One Way Or Another
by Moon Knight Apprentice
Summary: An old face from London turns up in Tokyo to stir up all kinds of trouble for Sailor Venus and the other senshi. The threat of an all out gang war looms on the city. Please R'n'R!
1. Chapter One

One Way Or Another  
By Ryan Bodle  
Chapter One

Rated: NC-17

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and all associated characters are the property of Takeuchi Naoko, and Toei Animation. JC and 13 are developed characters by the author.

The sun beat down on the city in a lazy fashion as it neared the end of the afternoon. The sky began turning amber as Aino Minako walked home after volleyball practice. She was particularly grateful that home wasn't far off. Today's practice was draining and she couldn't wait to get home and lay down for a few hours.

A familiar white feline crossed her path as she walked. She stopped and crouched down to pet him. "Hey Artemis," she greeted, fatigue clearly evident in her voice. Artemis purred as she stroked him. "Come on, let's go home." She started off again. Artemis fell in step with her, making sure nobody was nearby before he spoke.

"Are you ok Mina?"

"I'm just tired after practice. I'll be fine."

Mina crossed the road and past a police car that was parked up on the road. Instinctively she heard the radio buzz and there were mentions of a robbery in the area. She glanced down at Artemis. She knew he would be looking at her expectantly. She returned with a stern look that conveyed just how tired she really was. Besides, she could just tell one of the others if it was really that bad. Anyways, why not let the police handle it? How bad could it really be, anyway?

The officer in the concerned car barely looked like he cared himself. It couldn't have been anything major. Just some petty thieves. She carried on wearily.

Another burst of static came over, Mina had almost stopped listening. She heard enough to change her mind.

'Officer shot, request backup.'

The car ignition fired and the officer blared his two tones straight away. Mina looked over her shoulder. If it was that dangerous, perhaps she could check it out. Before she had even finished weighing out the decision she was about to make, she found her henshin pen in her hand already.

* * *

An erratic shot burst from behind the re-enforced door, a second warning for the police officers nearby to stay back. Officers Mizuki and Takashi took the hint to stay well back. Takashi raised his blonde head to peek over the bonnet of his car and scoped the situation inside the building. It was difficult to see. The glass window that usually showed off the inside of the building was fractured, but because it was re-enforced, like the rest of the building, it gave a hazy insight to what was going on inside.

He saw silhouettes of people inside. Most were cowered on the floor, avoiding gazes from those brave enough to walk around. Those few armed with guns. He ducked back down and crouched with his back against his patrol car. Mizuki, his partner crouched forward on one knee, his should propped against the vehicle.

"Do you know how many there are?" He asked. His voice was deep but smooth and often sounded cold, almost alien like. Under the situation, his breath heightened its pitch to make sound more human like.

"More than six," Takashi answered. "And about twenty hostages. We have to call for Special Tactics."

"For some armed thugs? Surely regular backup will do it."

"Their not armed with pistols." Just then another patrol car came screeching round the corner and stopped in front of theirs. A series of thunder cracks erupted and the occupants scrambled outside the car.

Both officers pounced up to see automatic fire pepper spray the unfortunate pair in the car. The first officer made it out safely and dove for ground, covering his head. The driver followed after him but took a bullet in the shoulder and was propelled by the impact out of the car.

Takashi and Mizuki wasted no time in running around and retrieving the two police officers. They pulled the wounded officer to the safety of behind their own vehicle. The uninjured officer followed and whimpered hysterically as fire opened up again. Takashi propped the injured officer up and glanced at the badge.

"Sergeant? You hold on, we'll call for back up and an ambulance."

The sergeant gritted his teeth and growled. "Sons of bitches had automatics."

Takashi gave a glance to his partner. Mizuki nodded minutely and reached for their car radio. "Dispatch. This is niner-zero-four-two."

"This is dispatch." A crackled voice replied.

"We're responding to the bank robbery in progress. Suspects are armed and have taken hostages. Request back up and an ambulance, officer wounded."

"Roger Mizuki, back up on its way."

"And call for S-T, suspects are armed with automatics."

"Confirmed. Automatic firearms, S-T will be dispatched. Over." A short static burst ended the conversation.

In the distance more sirens could be heard, screaming to get nearer to the area.

* * *

"Did you see that shot? Cops must be pissing their pants!" The young thug snickered. He wielded a small automatic rifle across his body, suspended by a strap over his shoulder.

"Don't get carried away Tanaki," an older voice replied. "We still have to get out of here without being caught." The older figure sat in a cushioned chair in the centre of the foyer area, maintaining control over the situation.

Tanaki snorted a laugh and continued to spy outside the door. Motomiya Kazu regarded his subordinate for another moment. The young man was good at what he did, if not a little rash. Kazu would have liked to keep their arsenal under tabs for a little longer. Tananki was still wise to not kill any of them. The last thing they wanted was to have the entire Tokyo police force looking for them as cop killers.

"Kaneda? What's the time?" He asked, his mind far from caring. He needed something as a distraction

"Twenty minutes, boss."

Time had gone by quicker than Kazu had counted. He was losing touch, or perhaps he was nervous. He tried to dismiss that, he never got nervous. Then again, this was a high profile job, and he hated them. He even hated more that was asked to do this job personally. It was a strange demand, even his own employer preferred him to use other people for things like this. It didn't matter now, he was here and he'd have to do his job, and do it well, as he always did. Professionally.

He scanned the room of the hostages they had. None were harmed. He planned to keep it that way. An injured hostage didn't go down well with the police. As instructed they all lay down, facing the floor and hands above their heads. All of them scared out of their wits. Some cried or whimpered out of fear. That was ok with him. Personally he didn't like the noise, it was a distraction, but he had to put up with it. At least they weren't hysterical or worse, stupidly brave. Violence is one thing he could do without right now.

Some of the hostages lay their heads sideways, uncomfortable in looking at the floor. None of them dared look at him or his team. Except one. His eyes glanced directly at Kazu for a second and then looked away. The culprit was foreign, Caucasian. He looked back at Kazu again and this time locked eyes with him. Kazu thought about how to rattle him. Someone who wasn't afraid was a threat. Kazu needed to maintain fear over all his hostages.

"Kazu," Kaneda interrupted. "I have the call."

Kazu got up from his seat to take the cell phone he was offered. He paced over to the white man and delivered a short, sharp kick to his face. "Motomiya." He stated as a welcome.

"Your transport is on its way." The line went dead. Kazu hung up the phone and slipped it in to his pocket.

"This is it," with that he raised his own rifle and chambered a round with a snap. Five heads in front of him nodded. Tanaki was behind him and snorted an approval. They all took positions behind cover. "Remember the plan."

One member of his team was up by the window applying suction pads with electronic equipment. Kazu stood halfway behind a pillar and brought his rifle up so the sights were at eye level.

The man wiring the window, unreeled a cable back to a covering position and continued to configure some electronics. "Get them back!" Kazu barked.

His team shuffled the hostages from in front of them and behind the counters. He didn't want them in the cross fire, they'd be safe there. They were filed through and Kaneda stood in the staff door, watching them, just in case.

"Ready," his electronics specialist said. Kazu nodded. His team assembled in a tactical formation, ensuring they could see every angle outside.

"Short, controlled bursts," Kazu re-iterated. "Go!"

The electronics expert pushed a button and there was a low whine, within a second it turned high-pitched and then supersonic. The window fractured more and then burst into a million pieces. Kazu scanned the area across the street, no civilians and just two patrol cars. The police took their time.

He squeezed his trigger and fired three shots in to the first patrol car. His team followed his example, always waiting for him to fire first. They sprayed the street ahead with bullets, making sure any police backup didn't move in close.

* * *

"Shit!" Takashi screamed as he ducked further to the ground, bullets ricocheting above him.

"They're breaking out!" Mizuki shouted to him. "They must be expecting company!"

"We have to hold them!" Takashi answered. Mizuki answered with a nod. He took out his pistol and paused for a second. Then he took a quick glance over the back of the patrol car and ducked again.

Another pause and he raised himself just over the trunk and aimed letting off two shots in to the bank. Fire was returned at him and he ducked. Takashi took his own pistol and aimed over the bonnet firing twice as well. He quickly counted bodies. No hostages, four bodies were in cover. He ducked again.

"How many did you count?" Mizuki asked.

"One on the left behind a corner, two in the middle. One looked like he was standing in a door way, looking the other way."

"Watching the hostages," Mizuki deduced. "These guys are good."

* * *

The firing stopped at Kazu's command. He scanned the area. There were two cops out there with enough balls to return their fire. He knew they were trying to keep them pinned to the confines of the building. For all the good it would do. In the dead silence a muffling sound distracted him. He turned around.

Kaneda was being held at gun point by the white man he kicked before. More importantly, by his own gun. Kazu raised his rifle, the man ducked behind Kaneda. "Cease fire!" Kaneda spoke stonely. Kazu wondered why he spoke, he knew Kaneda would prefer to be shot by him than anyone taking him hostage. Then Kazu remembered, his team member, and friend spoke English. "Cease fire!" He repeated.

"What are you doing with my man?" Kazu demanded. Kaneda translated. The man spoke, Kaneda translated.

"Getting your attention, I have a proposition for you."

"I don't care about your proposition."

"Look in the bag," Kaneda answered. Kazu looked down to a duffle bag. It was open to reveal several wads of cash. Thousands of Yen, Kazu couldn't make a guess how much just by looking. "I can't be taken in or questioned by the police. You let me go with you, I pay a hundred thousand yen."

"No deal, you let my man go first," Kazu ordered.

"If I let him go, I have your word you won't fire at me?"

Kazu remained silent and nodded in agreement. The white man released the barrel of his gun from Kaneda and let him go. Kazu levelled his rifle at him again. Kaneda dived, so did the white man as he squeezed the trigger. The door closed and Kazu's rounds tore through the wood, making it splinter in several places. He stopped firing and kept his sight trained on the door. Kaneda drew a pistol and levelled it at the same place.

Kazu's attention was distracted by the flicker of a shadow, it came from above him. 'Impossible,' he thought. All that was there was the air conditioning vents. Nobody would be climbing about in there. He would have heard them. He tightened his lips into a snarl as he watched it carefully. Where was their transport?

* * *

Sailor Venus settled and kept still, she was sure one of them noticed her. She waited, holding her breath, waiting for a moment when she could move again. She needed a distraction and prayed one would present itself. There was another crack of gun fire, just what she needed. She didn't hesitate and kicked out the vent guard just behind her and in one swift motion, pushed backwards. Her feet swung through the gap and she pivoted her body through. Grabbing the edge of the hole, she swung forward and held her feet out. She connected with the torso of one man, square in the chest, he flew back and hit the wall before crumpling to a heap on the ground.

She landed nimbly and avoided the sights of a gun barrel. With her super-human speed she charged down the small gap, grappled the man's arm that held the weapon and twisted it, forcing him to release his grip. She ducked and swept the man off his feet with a kick. Convinced both men were disabled, she looked about for further, immediate danger and hostages. The staff door to behind the counters was open, someone stood there. He was reaching for a duffle bag. It was filled with cash on top of an assortment of clothes. One thing she recognised. Sitting there and gleaming back at her was a metal mask. A mask she had seen many times before.

The owner grabbed the mask from the bag. He took it to his face before she could get a good look. Her jaw started to hang as she gasped at him. "JC?" She managed. The masked man acknowledged his name by raising a rifle and firing. She side stepped to avoid the line of fire. He missed. He knew he would miss, it wasn't his aim to hit her, but it gave him enough time to retreat behind the counters. She started after him.

As she rounded the corner another short burst of fire erupted in her direction, each round missing again. She caught JC heading to a rear fire exit. He levelled the gun at the fire alarm and emptied the magazine into it. The safety lock released and set off the sprinklers. He barged the door open and disappeared again. Venus chased him through the door, closing the gap in seconds. The bank backed out into a wide alley and JC was running for the main road.

As she came close enough to grab him, JC ducked to the floor. She was left staring at two police officers covering the rear exit. Before they could restrain themselves, two shots were released from their pistols. Sailor Venus dropped backwards, letting gravity doing its job to beat the speed of the projectiles. One shot grazed her shoulder, searing heat erupted from it as she crumpled to the floor. She regained her senses and looked for JC. He was gone already, the police officers haring off in his direction.

She was about to join them when her communicator beeped. She stopped to answer. Sailor Mercury appeared on the screen. "Sailor Venus, what happened? I thought you were already at the bank."

"I'm out the back. One of them got away."

"He got away? How?"

"I didn't expect to see him, have you cleared up the other thieves?"

"No, they got in an escape vehicle before we arrived."

"Damn," Venus cursed. "Let's meet tomorrow, I'll fill you in. Venus out." She closed her communicator. She knew well enough JC would have disappeared by now. He was good at it. Her face turned sour at the thought of him suddenly turning up again.


	2. Chapter Two

One Way Or Another  
By Ryan Bodle  
Chapter Two

Rating: NC-17

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and all associated characters are the property of Takeuchi Naoko, and Toei Animation. JC and 13 are developed characters by the author.

* * *

"I still don't see why we have to call a meeting over just a bank robbery," Serena griped. "Especially so late at night." She added with a heavy yawn.

"The reason is because this was no ordinary bank robbery. These people knew exactly what they were doing," Luna sternly answered.

"Right, if you girls ever face a robbery like this again, you better be on your toes," Artemis agreed.

"I think, considering everything, we can handle a bunch of thieves, no matter how clever they are," Raye argued.

"Our point exactly, you are by far more than capable of dealing with any normal human," Luna pointed out.

"You've got to remember that if these guys think they can out smart the law and your Sailor selves, they may end up thinking they can take you on, they could hurt a lot of people," Artemis added.

Lita nodded at Artemis. "You're right. We've got to be careful when dealing with someone like this. They're a real threat to other people. They've already taken hostages and it was just their first heist."

"It would help if we knew how many we're dealing with here," Amy analysed. "We could then tell how quickly we could incapacitate them and avoiding harm to innocent bystanders."

"We already know their numbers," Raye said. "There were five in the bank that took off in an escape vehicle. Mina followed another and lost him, that makes six."

Mina's lips tightened at the last sentence. "Nobody blames you Mina," Serena said sympathetically. "You can't get them all!" She chirped.

"He wasn't one of them," the blonde answered. "At least I'm pretty sure he's not."

Lita looked concerned, she placed a hand on her should "Who was he then?"

"Someone I never thought I'd see again," she mused. "And I still didn't see his face!" She suddenly erupted, scaring everyone else. She calmed again and composed herself, knowing she owed an explanation. The first person she looked to was the white guardian cat. "Oh Artemis. I'm sorry," she sighed. "I should have told you straight away."

The white feline immediately burrowed his brow. "Who was it?"

"It was JC," she answered. The name meant nothing to the other girls. Nonetheless, it carried a sense of foreboding with it.

The silence was becoming dramatic as everyone waited for an explanation. "Are you sure?"

"I never saw his face, never have," she explained. "But he had that same mask, it was unmistakeable."

Artemis dropped his head in thought. "We have to be more careful, if he's in league with them."

"He's not anything to do with them," the blonde answered. "He never worked with anyone, you know that. He was going to sit it out and I would never have known it was him, but I saw the mask in his bag. He put it on before I could get a look at him. The only other thing I remember was his sports bag. It was filled with money."

"Probably trying to get it changed up," Artemis concluded. "You think we'll see more of him?"

"Count on it," Mina replied with an edge to her voice.

"Just who is this JC?" Raye interrupted. "An old friend."

"Like Queen Beryl is an old acquaintance," Artemis retorted.

"That bad?" Lita asked.

"No, but he's the only person who managed to escape Mina as Sailor V every time, but trust me, he's got a temper that could compete," Artemis explained. "The last time we saw him," he thought. " Well, we thought he died."

Mina let out a single solitary laugh, almost sarcastic in its sound. "You know, I never really believed he had died. I was sure that would be the last of him, though."

"What happened?" Serena asked, leaning forward. Completely taken by the story, she had forgotten about her fatigue.

"JC, all things considered, was just small fry compared to the regular crooks in England," Mina started. "Still, he was good, he never got caught, not even by me and his adventures, for lack of better term, usually ended in fires or some disaster. He had a short-lived crime spree but a famous one.

As best as Artemis and I could tell, he had a feud with a crime syndicate called The Circle. We never heard the name often, they operated very discretely. The last time I saw JC, he had just robbed a pawn shop."

Amy raised an eyebrow "Why a pawn shop?"

Mina shrugged. "JC's targets were always strange choices. I guess in retrospect they could have been fronts for The Circle. We can't be sure.

Anyway, sure enough, he fled with bullets chasing him. It wasn't soon before the police were on to him. I watched for the most of it. I knew he'd escape, like he always did. This time I decided to wait and follow him."

"We followed him," Artemis corrected. "To the docks on the Thames River, it was a place called Greenwich Wharf if I remember rightly."

"Right. He had lost the police by now, so I picked my moment then."

"Did you attack him?" Lita asked. Mina just shook her head.

"Either he was very good or very lucky, but an outright confrontation between us always led to him getting away. He never was up for a fight like the others. I decided to talk this one out. Look for a definite advantage before going for it. Or maybe even get something out of him.

-----Greenwich Wharf, London------ 

The car came to an abrupt stop, the tyres and brakes screaming as they did. The lights were already off. It made it easier to lose someone when it was this dark. Sailor V waited on a roof of corrugated steel, high above. The elusive JC had obviously come here for a reason, he had a trick up his sleeve for sure, and she would make sure she knew it first this time. She saw his shadow rush between the alleys of buildings. He darted though the grid in a random way that convinced her was deliberate.

He stopped in an abandoned storage house that still concealed steel girders with tarnished surfaces, they coloured a dirty red and littered the place. JC dropped a duffel bag he had been carrying and opened it. It was far too dark to see its contents. In fact it was barely light enough to see his silhouette but she could still hear him clearly. She had a pretty good guess what was in the bag.

She heard a hiss as he exclaimed a silent 'yes.' She jumped from her perch and with no sound at all, landed on the ground behind him. He tied up the bag again and spun on his heel, coming face to face with her. The sudden shock made him fall backwards and shout in surprise.

The heap of JC and the bag on the floor made an untidy business of getting up from the floor. "Bloody hell!" he whined. "You scared the shit out of me!"

For now, she said nothing. She waited for him to speak. He seemed confused by her silence. "What do you want?" He demanded. Almost as if she acted out of line.

"What do I want?" She returned in disbelief. "We'll start with whatever you took from that Pawn Shop."

"You saw that? Well, you see I can't do that."

"Its not a matter of whether you can or not," Sailor V stated.

JC put a hand out in a submissive way. "Look any other time, I would, but I can't. Not this time, this is my way out," he reasoned.

"Out of what?"

"They're close," He said back. "I have to get out, this is my only chance. Or else they'll."

"Who's they?" She interrupted.

"The Circle," he snapped back. "Let me go, I swear, you'll never see or hear of me again. Look, I'll split the money with you."

"Ha! How many times have I heard that one before?" She returned. Her ears pricked as she heard a car approach.

"Shit!" JC cursed. "They found me already. Please, you have to let me go, this is my only way out. They'll kill my family if they find out who I am."

"The Circle? Just who are they anyway?"

"Nobody knows, it's why they're so dangerous. Look, I'm in too deep with them now, I have to get out," he pleaded with her. "I swear on the grave of my mother you'll never see me again."

Footsteps neared and Sailor V turned to focus on their source. Just then she heard foot scrapes behind here as JC fled. "JC! No!" She tried to stop him, but he got just outside of her reach. As he exited the shelter of the warehouse they were in, gun fire erupted.

JC retreated back. "Shit!" He kept shouting as the bullets clattered about him. Sailor V listened carefully. Judging by the gun fire and foots steps, there must have been at least eight of them. She crept up to the wall as she heard two stalking outside. There was a torn hole in the whole and she held back as they passed, noting one of them check it by peering a pistol through. They passed by and she rushed to attack.

She dived through the hole nimbly and without sound. The two men were just a few meters in front of her now. She rushed at them, catching their attention. Both spun to shoot but were too late. She grabbed one arm and twisted it, wrenching the gun free from grip as the man gasped in pain. She pivoted her weight and swung the guy straight into his companion. Both hit the wall with such force that they both slumped unconscious.

She heard heavy foot steps again and determined JC was trying to make a run for it again. She had to move quickly. A single shot sounded and any foot steps stopped. Did they get him? She took off in the direction of the sound.

There were more shots fired. JC must have still been alive. If he could hold out for little longer, she'd stand a chance of keeping him alive to get some answers. She cut towards the river, instinct telling her that's where JC would head. She had no idea why, it just made sense for him.

She guessed right. Unfortunately, so had the armed men that came for him. Two of them had him pinned with nowhere to go. Just then JC noticed her arrival. "This is all your fault, you know?"

The two looked over their shoulder and turned to aim at her. She was two quick, aiming a snap kick at an abandoned tyre. The tyre lifted from the ground and caught them both in the chest. They tyre knocked them off their feet and onto the ground. She heard both grunt as the wind was knocked out of them. She slowed and took both of their guns, throwing them into the river.

JC pointed to her right. "Two more!"

She grabbed the tyre in both hands and spun on her heel. She threw it like a large discus towards the two approaching her and instinctively followed it up. As she had expected, they ducked the incoming projectile. That gave her just enough time to close the distance. A twist of one arm, a knee to the sternum and an elbow to the back of the head in just a few seconds was enough to incapacitate both of them and gave her time to focus on JC.

Typically, he had tried running further along the thick concrete wall, keeping the river from overflowing into the docklands. "JC!" She shouted in a commanding tone. He stopped and looked back at her for a moment, then carried on. "Damn it, JC!"

It was mere seconds before her super natural speed allowed her to catch up with him. "JC, hold up!" She grabbed his shoulder and stopped him in his tracks.

"No!" He answered defiantly, trying to shake loose from V's iron grip. He turned to face her. Behind the slick metallic mask he wore, she could tell he was looking at her with a thousand different types of anger and frustration. "Let go," he growled.

"I can't do that," she told him firmly.

The eye pieces of his mask glinted, and she could see the pupils in his eyes, glistening in the moonlight. They glanced sideways and back again. Without warning, he tackled her to the floor. The air whipped twice just where they had both been as two more bullets were aimed for them. She landed roughly on her back, JC's weight on top of her did enough to knock the wind from her lungs. She gasped for air and her stomach cramped at the attempt.

"You'll get us both killed," he screamed at her, putting emphasis in to the word 'both.' Before she knew it, he had got up from her and fled again. Unable to breathe, she was left defenceless against the two gunmen coming for her.

"You watch out, I'll make sure she doesn't get up again," she heard a thick London accent instruct. This was it, she thought, fear began to further impair her ability to breathe. Unless JC came back for her.

"Look out for what?" The other asked.

"JC of course!"

"But he's gone, he ain't coming back."

"Just look out for him, will you?

"Why? She's as much trouble to him as she is to us. He's not coming back for her." The second gunman was right. JC wouldn't come back for her. She was all alone. Her eyes burned as they tried to emit tears but it hurt too much. She hadn't known fear like this before.

Her enhanced hearing magnified the sound of a gun barrel sliding as the gunman made sure a round was chambered. The barrel slid back with a screech and clicked into place. It sounded more like a war drum being struck. Then she saw the barrel aimed straight for her.

"Oh god," she whimpered. She closed her eyes. There was a low growl as the trigger was pulled, pulling the firing pin back. A thunder crack went off as the pin began to throw itself forwards. The sound of the pin making contact with the bullet inside, the sonic boom of the bullet firing and then a loud ringing sound.

The sound in her ears began to filter out as she realised the bullet never hit her. The next sound she was aware of was JC shouting at her. "Get up!" She opened her eyes.

It was still night, she was still alive in the wharf and JC was standing over her, snapping at her. "Come on! Get up or I'll kill you myself."

She took a relieved sigh. Her breathing had come back. 'When did that happen?' she thought to herself, then remembered JC. She raised her leg and kicked him in the small of the back. He fell over and she quickly got up before he had a chance.

"You cheeky cow!" He shouted and jumped to his feet. "I saved your life twice, in as many minutes I might add, and you still have the nerve to fight me!"

"One good deed doesn't undo all the bad ones you've pulled JC," she defended.

"Bullshit!"

He grabbed the bag of money and stepped back towards the edge of the river. He looked over his shoulder nervously and back at her.

"What are you going to do?" She asked. He looked back at the water to answer her question. Her eyes shot wide. "JC, no! The under current! You'll drown!"

His knuckles tightened as he gripped the bag tighter. "No fear," he began.

"No!" She begged.

"No hesitation."

"Don't do it!"

"No problem." With that final word, he took a step back and plunged into the murky depths of the River Thames.

"JC!" Sailor V stood on the water's edge. All that was left was his metal mask. She stood there scanning the surface, trying to see a sign of him there. There was none but that mask. It was like a headstone to his watery grave. Police sirens could be heard in the distance. They were coming for the wharf. With no time left, she left the scene.

----- Cherry Hill Temple -----

"That was the last I ever saw of him," Mina finished.

"Some story," Amy concluded.

Mina looked at her friends. "The most dangerous thing about JC is the company he tends to attract more than himself. If he's shown his mask in public, chances are he's brought trouble with him. We should be ready."

"We'll be ready," Lita answered. "We'll catch him in no time."

Mina gazed at the floor in front of and then raised her head with a reassuring smile. "Thanks."

"Perhaps we should take a forward step in looking for this JC first, we could track down anybody who's in the city from England."

"It won't be easy," Mina reminded. "JC is extremely good when it comes to staying out of sight when he needs to. And chances are he's used a different name to enter the country. But you're right, we have to try."

Amy nodded. "Mina, meet me after school tomorrow, we'll start then."

"You have something in mind?" The blonde asked.

"I'll show you tomorrow and we'll keep everyone informed of our progress, but for now only two of us will be necessary."

"Can we go to bed now?" Serena interrupted.


	3. Chapter Three

One Way Or Another  
By Ryan Bodle  
Chapter Three

* * *

"I can't believe we're stuck with this case," Detective Rosa griped. His new police badge still gleamed in its first week since being transferred from a uniform officer. "Open and shut it may not be, but it's defiantly far from solvable."

"You just don't know how to look for the right clues," the older detective replied. He sat at his desk leaning towards the monitor on his desk attentively. The monochrome display replayed a bank robbery that had occurred just yesterday. "And we have to find something. Pressure is coming from way high up on this one."

Rosa sat on the corner of his superior's desk. It was the only space available seeing as the rest was littered with notebooks of all sizes filled to the back page with notes, file cases over spilling each other and office memos and faxes. "Your desk is a dump," he quipped as he sipped at a hot coffee.

Despite his odd ways of investigating, Rosa liked being paired with Lieutenant Koshiro. The man was in his fifties now and nearing the end of his career. Soon the old man would have a desk job if he wanted to carry on. However, the old man's mind was as sharp as ever and by Rosa's reckoning, one of the best cops on the force. He never said it, but Rosa was particularly proud when Koshiro personally requested he be transferred to him.

"Never have the time to clean things up," the older replied with eyes still glued to the screen. A remote control laid in one hand whilst a pen was held at the ready in the other. Another notebook rested on the edge of the desk. Lines of notes already scribbled down.

"Why don't you put it all on to the computer? It'd be easier find." Rosa expected a reply along the lines of technology being too excessive or computers scaring him.

"Oh, I do," was the surprise answer. "Well at least half the time. Sometimes I'm in too much of a rush and can't remember what I put on there so I leave it all here to make sure." He looked from the monitor and grinned. "Looking for a job?"

His partner choked back in to his coffee mug. "Hell no," he sharply answered.

"You'd probably learn something about looking for clues." Rosa merely shrugged. "Here we are. There was an incident before the thieves broke out. See? One of the hostages hijacked a weapon."

"Oh yeah," Rosa studied the CCTV replay. "I guess it's optimistic to ask why at this point."

"Still, we need to know why, looks like this guy took off too."

"Is there a good frame we can print off for an ID?"

"Doesn't look like it. It's like he knew where all the cameras were and avoided looking at them." The Koshiro mused

"He must have staked the bank out before, I'll request the tapes from the week before." Koshiro smiled slightly at Rosa's suggestion. He had noticed a certain deductive nature about the young man he admired. He figured if he could harness that, the boy would make one hell of a detective, and if he could do that before he was forced behind a desk he'd have a student to make out of him, a prodigy even.

"Good idea. He doesn't look local though."

"Why do you say that?" The younger man studied the screen closer.

"Even in monochrome, you can clearly see the skin texture is lighter on this man, look at his hand compared to the thief he attacked. He's clearly Caucasian."

"The case file suggested the robbery may be linked to English crime rackets," Rosa thought out loud.

"This seems to support that theory, perhaps we should check on visitors with a UK passport coming into Tokyo." Koshiro suggested.

"Are you sure he came in through Tokyo?"

"Positive, this guy never meant to get involved. The only reason he did, I assume was because he didn't want to talk to us. Another question to answer. He came in to change up the money in his bag, look." He indicated a duffle bag on the floor. "And we have to identify that mask. Ask police in England anything about it. Something notorious like that, I have a feeling somebody had problems with this guy before."

"You think this might be big?"

"Very," the older almost confirmed. "Whoever wants results, is afraid of a gang war between English crime rackets and local Yakuza. Get those tapes and a list of all UK passports to come through Tokyo international. He may have come from a European flight or American for that matter."

"On it," Rosa took off. Koshiro paused the CCTV screen and got up himself. He had an appointment to keep with somebody.

* * *

He tugged his collar about him and then started up the lighter he had in his grip. The flames licked around a cigarette until it lit. He stashed the lighter back in his pocket and smiled vacantly. "You know, I have one cigarette every day. Just one smoke," he explained. "And any day I come to see you, I always save it for then. Do you think I'm trying to be tough, maybe subconsciously or is it because you give me cause to worry?"

He looked across at a girl with short blue hair who offered a small smile back. "I think it's because you always wait for your lunch break before coming to see me." She explained.

"Ah," he grinned wider. Bemused by the riddle she solved for him.

"The bank yesterday," he cut to the chase. "Yakuza robbers, very professional from the looks of things. One interruption from a young man, Caucasian." He stated the bare bone facts.

"Right," Sailor Mercury nodded. "We haven't got much more apart from that, I'm afraid. Apart from a partial ID."

"One of the Yakuza?" Mercury shook her head. "The Caucasian? Interesting. I think he's English, myself." Mercury nodded. "So how is it a partial ID?"

"He has a notorious criminal alias in London. One of the other senshi recognised his mask but couldn't get a look of his face before he ran."

Liutenant Koshiro nodded at that, absorbing the information and creating possibilities and theories. "Do you have an alias?"

"JC."

"JC?" Mercury nodded.

"His criminal life was short lived but prominent from what I've been told. Sailor Venus told us about him and from her last encounter, it was thought he was dead."

"So he disappeared? And suddenly turned up here. Was he running from someone?"

"I think so, it's not set in stone, but he was involved with a crime syndicate called The Circle in England. It's possible he was running from them at the time. More importantly, they could still be after him. If they get any news of him being here, I think they'll come looking."

"So we need to make sure all accounts of him are kept away from the media," Koshiro determined. "Whoever gave me the case feels there could be a gang war in the making if we don't act fast."

"If I may, Lieutenant," Mercury interrupted. "This JC has a past with Sailor Venus. If we could track him down, we might be able to stop this before it starts."

Koshiro thought long and hard. He hated including the senshi on investigations. Truth be told he just had a soft spot for them, if anything else. Of course assisting them, technically vigilantes, was trouble enough for him. He came to the conclusion that stopping a possible all out gang war beat the alternative.

"We plan on tracking down any English passports to come through Tokyo International Airport to confirm his identity, be here in two hours and you can have a copy of the list."

"Thank you, Lieutenant," Mercury bowed.

"And we will be revising the CCTV recordings this afternoon. We'll start on the list tomorrow morning."

"Thanks again," Mercury smiled. That gave the senshi this evening as a head start. Koshiro dropped his cigarette to the floor and rubbed it out with his shoe. Without saying goodbye, he left the secluded area they chose as a meeting spot.

Koshiro checked his watch. It was two-thirty. He knew Sailor Mercury was a schoolgirl and he didn't care to know much more. All he knew now was that two hours would be plenty of time for her to finish class and return. The tricky part was making a copy of the list that could be traced to him. He'd need to copy it by hand. Should be easy enough if he had plenty of time to himself. He needed a job for that young Detective Rosa.

* * *

"My best man almost got caught!" The Yakuza boss snapped loudly in English.

"Well he can't have been that good then, can he?" A calm voice replied. It oozed with charm despite its chalky sound. "You knew the risks when you took up our proposition," he reminded.

The Yakuza boss remained silent and made no effort to hide his unsatisfied mood. He straightened his pin stripe suit to regain his composure. The English man in front of him dressed in rags by comparison. It was hard to believe he was a businessman like himself. Boss Tenaka prided himself on his appearance and shrewd business prowess. On the surface, this deal looked like a real profit on his part. It started to turn quite sour and he didn't like it.

"Now I assume you managed to sway your people in the local police," the English man continued.

"They think your English gangs are involved, yes," Tenaka replied.

"No, they think English gangs are involved," he corrected. "You don't even know who I am, let alone the police, so how can they assume they're my gang? I realise this may seem a moot point, but I assure you, to myself and my associates, it is an important matter and just to re-iterate."

"Our business never took place, I know," Tenaka finished the sentence rather irritably. The conduct of this business was very peculiar. "About our payment."

"Yes, said amount of money, on top of that you took from the bank, and intricate details of Chinese Triad businesses in central Europe and Great Britain," the English man confirmed. "Invaluable information for anyone looking to seize their business."

Tenaka smiled with greed. "Of course, you are permitted to use this information as you see fit, providing it does not conflict with our interests."

Tenaka glared at the man and answered him. "I have no intention of selling guns in Europe Mr. 13."

Mr 13 smiled warmly. "Good. Now before we conclude this trade. I have one more job for you."

"This was not in our arrangement!" The Yakuza boss snapped.

"Relax will you?" Mr 13 said almost submissively. "I'm sure you'll find it less than taxing. You see, our need to employ your services is in order to flush out an enemy of ours. And now we have his attention, we need you to leak some information."

"What kind?" Tenaka enquired.

"Personal, of course," Mr 13 smiled. He looked over his shoulder and summoned someone with a wave of his hand. An intimidating thug approached holding a briefcase and opened it a margin revealing a store of documents inside. "Tomorrow, I will arrange for a Detective Jefferson to call your local police with information on this man." He handed over photos.

Tenaka looked at them with intrigue. "He wears a mask?"

"At least when he cares to use his alias, JC. He's been of particular trouble to us, and we would like to see to it, that he isn't around to bother us anymore. If the police are looking for him, it will put more pressure on him to show himself. Oh, we wouldn't mind if the press got wind of this as well."

"I can do that," Teneaka agreed. "How troublesome was this man? Just out of curiosity."

"Oh very," Mr 13 answered. "In fact, if someone were to catch him for us, we'd be very appreciative. We'd reward anyone who handed him in to us. A lot more if he was alive."

"Well, I'll certainly keep an eye out for him." Tenaka tuned to a subordinate and handed over the photographs. He spoke briefly in Japanese, the man took the photographs and walked away.

"Thank you." Mr 13 flicked his hand again and the thug closed the brief case. He walked towards Tenaka. "The briefcase contains all the information you need. Your money is being transferred as we speak."

Tenaka looked to his left. One of his men was operating a laptop and tuned it to face him. It confirmed transactions of money across accounts. "It has been good to do business with you," Tenaka concluded.

Mr 13 bowed low as he sat and smiled wide. He got up and left the room with two more men in tow. They exited the building and in to a black car where one thug accompanying drove 13 away. He let his front break as he placed a cigarette in his mouth and lit it. "Thank God that's over with, I can't stand that man," he inhaled and exhaled smoke. "And I swear that apartment block has a slight, yet very distinct smell of piss about it."

"Everything is going ahead as it should boss," the driver reported.

"Good. Did you plant the package?" He asked the thug next to him in the back seat.

"Yes boss." The thug answered.

In the rear window, a window was blown out as a bomb went off in the building they had just exited. 13 grinned maliciously as he drew from his cigarette again. "Good," he exhaled.


	4. Chapter Four

One Way Or Another  
By Ryan Bodle  
Chapter Four

* * *

"Will we ever get to meet this detective friend of yours, Amy?" Mina enquired as her friend led her.

"I'd rather you didn't Mina. He's not all that comfortable with sharing information with me, I don't know how he'd react to any of the other Sailors," she reasoned. "Please just wait for me?"

"Oh alright, but I still don't think this is right."

"It's the only lead I have, Mina. We have to try." Amy looked around her. The area was clear. "Nobody is around, we should transform. I've always been Sailor Mercury when meeting him."

The seemingly abandoned streets offered a perfect opportunity to transform. "I don't think so," Mina deduced. "It doesn't feel safe, lets move a bit further on."

"We'll be at the meeting point soon," Amy pointed out.

"We can double back," the blonde answered. "I just don't feel comfortable here." The two girls walked further through the quiet neighbourhood of the city. "How come this neighbourhood is so quiet, anyway?"

"It was evacuated because of the tsunami warning, remember?" the blue haired girl responded. "It's taken a while and after that, it was a false alarm. Moving everybody back may take a while. Anyway, when everybody returns, we'll find somewhere else. We've never really used the same place to meet for a long period of time. It's safer."

"It feels eerie," Mina added. It was almost like a ghost town. "I guess its safer here, let duck in to that alley.

"I had to hand copy the list," Koshiro explained as he handed over several loose leafs of paper. Sailor Mercury took them. "You best get started if you're going to find anything."

"Thank you again, Lieutenant," Sailor Mercury bowed and left quickly.

"Just take care of yourself," he shouted after her. He felt a pang of guilt as she disappeared. He didn't know what its cause was, the information he just shared or the concern he had for her. He reached into his pocket and took out a pack of cigarettes half full. A second smoke in a day? He knew he shouldn't. His hand was trembling a little as her put another to his lips.

"You have the list?" Sailor Venus asked. Sailor Mercury produced the collection of paper. "That's a lot of names. Can we cover them all?"

"Not tonight, but we'll have a head start on the police, at least."

"Well, we should get started, how do we check for these names? They won't be in the phone book."

"Some of them have addresses with them, we should check those first. They mostly look like hotels. Then we'll use the internet to see if we can bring up the names that are left and use that information anyway possible," Sailor Mercury.

"Lets go. We don't have much time." The silhouettes of Sailor Mercury and Sailor Venus jumped over rooftops of the city.

* * *

Detective Rosa laid down the CCTV tapes on a clean area of Lieutenant Koshiro's desk. He looked about for his partner. The older man was nowhere to be seen. Koshiro's phone rang. Rosa picked it up. "Koshiro's desk," he answered curtly.

"Good afternoon," a voice replied with a terrible accent. "My name is Malcolm Jefferson, I'm with London Metropolitan Police. I was hoping to speak to Mr Koshiro about one of his cases."

"I see," Rosa reached for a pen and a blank piece of paper. "Well I can't say where he is right now, but I would happily pass a message to him."

"Oh, no need," Jefferson replied. "I really need to send a copy of a file to him. Do you have a fax number I can send it to?"

"Fax? Sure thing," Rosa answered. "Let me just get the number, I only have an internal number. Hold on." He held the handset away from him. "Can somebody tell me the fax number?" He called out to the busy floor.

"144!"

"The outside number, thanks!"

A passing detective handed him a piece of paper. It was a headed sheet of paper for official letters and memos. Contact details were just below the police badge in the centre.

"Yeah, I got it right here." He recited the number.

"Thank you, I'll send it over straight away. If you could make sure he gets it."

"Of course," Rosa assured. "I'm working the case with him, so I'll definitely see to it."

"Oh, well then I'll copy to for your attention also," Jefferson lingered, waiting for Rosa to finish the sentence.

"Detective Rosa."

"Thank you Detective Rosa," the phone went dead before Rosa could get a good bye in. Rather than take offence, he shrugged and hung the phone up. Just then, Koshiro appeared.

"There you are, I just spoke to someone from London Metropolitan Police about the robbery, he's faxing us a file on someone. Hopefully the Caucasian we couldn't ID."

Koshiro looked puzzled. "Did you contact the English authorities yet?"

"No, why?"

"Because I didn't either, how did they know we were looking into the case?"

"Maybe they were keeping tabs on this guy, or maybe whoever handed the case down was already speaking to them," Rosa speculated.

"Maybe," Koshiro mused. "But it's still very quick. Where's the fax?"

"Should be coming through now," Rosa pointed to the fax machine in the office. Koshiro rushed over and saw a header page come through with his name on it. Several pages started to follow.

"I can't read that, is it in English?" Rosa peered over his shoulder. Koshiro took a pair of thin glasses out and peered at the paper coming out. "What's it say?"

Koshiro read carefully. "It says his name is JC."

* * *

"Now that's sorted, we need to start looking for JC ourselves," 13 poured himself a whiskey from the back of his car as one of the thugs drove him.

"Aren't you going to let the locals deal with that?" The other asked.

"Not a chance," 13 dismissed. "We need to start checking every place that doesn't take an official register of its tenants. These will be the slums of the city. Make sure there's somebody watching all the ways out of the city. Buses, trains using any major exits need to be kept an eye on."

"Airport?"

"He won't use it again, he'll know we can track the fake passport he's using and he won't buy another one, anyone who can provide him with one with sooner sell him out to us," 13 held a map folded up which displayed a specific part of Tokyo, the were circles drawn on in red ink. "Now drive south, we've got a lot of places to check before the nights out."

"Aren't you going to let someone else take care of it boss?"

13 knocked back his drink. "No. He's caused too much damage as it is, I need to make sure he's actually gone this time."

* * *

"The sign is written in English," Sailor Mercury confirmed to nobody in particular. They stood in a dark alley facing a bar on the list. One of the names was suspected being there but there was no clear evidence.

"Seems like a certain kind of tourist attraction," Venus added. "I'll bet it's the kind of place we'd find JC too."

Sailor Mercury examined the building. It was a shabby looking bar with flickering neon lights. The grime on its walls seemed to somehow reflect its interior and the people within. Linking their target with the bar seemed to put an even worse light on him.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, the kind of place that would attract little attention to him, lets go," Venus responded and slinked off into the shadows. Sailor Mercury followed her closely. Her partner seemed to have a knack for stealthy approaches. Venus halted suddenly as voices could be heard approaching them. They were obviously English but Mercury had no idea what they were saying.

She clicked a small stub on her right ear and her computer flicked to life. Immediately she called up a translation program and began to run it. The translations were displayed as kanji across her visor.

"We'll all go in together, this is the most likely place for him to be," the first voice ordered.

"Are you sure, boss?" A second asked. "Ithink it's a bit obvious."

"You're not paid to think, you're paid to do as your bloody well told!" The first voice snapped. "This is one of many places that will put someone up for a room without asking questions, but it is the only place in the city that does that and speak English. So just sweep the place quick and find him. I'll speak with the barman and get something out of him, savvy?"

"Yes, boss."

Just then, Mercury saw three men head for the bar. She receded her visor. "Do you think they were talking about JC?"

"I hope not," Venus replied. "If they are, it means what I feared would happen, will happen."

"All the more reason to find JC even sooner then," the blue haired senshi responded. "Lets enter from the roof, we'll be unseen that way."

"You took the words right out of my mouth."

* * *

JC opened his bag and looked over the mass wealth stored inside. The money made him uneasy, it wasn't clean but he needed it to survive. Reluctantly he took out a wad held together by a paper bond denoting a particular value. It was his lodgings for the night, and hopefully enough extra for some protection. Silence. He zipped the bag up again and headed for the door to his room.

It was a dilapidated chamber. A poor excuse for a bedroom but it served his purpose and he could hardly get board anywhere else without raising question. He opened the door, probably the most well maintained furniture the room had. Even that was decaying, paint peeling from it and grime building up around the edges and corners.

He stepped out into the hallway and locked his door behind him. He didn't luck much coming out the room in all honesty. For the time being, he wanted to stay there for a day maybe two. Maybe a week or month until the heat lifted but that was a bad idea and he knew it. At most, he had a day before somebody figured out he'd be hiding in this hole he'd have to move quickly. If he could secure a way out of the city, he'd be free. 'Finally,' he sighed to himself.

There was another door with a glass panel, he glanced out before making the damned journey out into the bar area below. Thinking about it, he could do with a drink. Something to calm him. He glanced down to the bar to try and see Mack before he walked out there.

Mack was an American who setup shop here two years back. His business was slow and so he started to let people stay there overnight. A motel, he didn't ask questions but his prices were high. Mack was a smart man, he took in those who didn't want questions asked no matter who they were. Of course his business would attract some attention from the law enforcement but he kept them at bay, never knowing who his clients really were. He always provided fake alias' for them. Of course, this never reflected on Mack. The clientele took full responsibility if anything came up. There were other, more detailed processes to the way he worked but that didn't matter to JC. Right now, in this building, he was one Mr. Daniel Jones from Essex, England.

He saw Mack having words with someone. Mack, naturally played ignorance to whatever the man was asking. 'Another bounty hunter, no doubt,' JC told himself. The stranger turned round as if looking for someone. JC instinctively ducked. 'Oh shit! Its him!'

His heart almost jumped out its cavity in his chest. 'Get out!' a voice told him. He didn't listen. He was pressed up against the door out of sight. Maybe he didn't see JC. He could get away with it. Mack would talk him out of it. 'What for? He doesn't owe you anything!' A voice of reason told him. 'You haven't even paid him yet!'

JC tenderly raised his head to look down again. All the luck in the universe seemed to conspire against him as the figure looked back up at him. 'Shit!' He cursed again and flung himself back down the hall.

He got to his door and fumbled with the key to the lock. His hands were trembling but he couldn't tell if it was adrenaline or fear. Someone appeared at the door he was just at. It was definitely the face he did not want to see. He couldn't unlock the door still. There was a loud bang of a gun discharge. He instinctively looked down his body. He hadn't been hit. He looked back. The shot had blown the lock off of the door down the hall. The face looked back at him with a satisfied grin on it.

He heard a knock behind him. He spun round and saw two girls. One he recognised as Sailor V, well sort of. She had a scowl etched into her face. The other dressed in a similar fashion but with a blue motif stood next to her with an analysing expression. He didn't know why, but he just looked at them and instinctively shouted. "Duck!"

His room key slotted into the lock and he twisted it, collapsing in to the room as gunfire broke out again, whipping the air where he had just been. He slammed the door behind him and scrambled for his bag. 'Get out!' his mind screamed at him.

He ran across the room and kicked out the window. He looked down below. Trash cans and bags littered the area below. He looked for a safer way down but knew he didn't have time. He made a leap of faith.

In the few seconds that followed, he acknowledged that this was without doubt the bravest and yet stupidest thing he had ever down. His breath was held in his lungs as he waited to hit the bottom. He did, the bags breaking most of his fall. That didn't stop his legs clattering against two upstanding cans. Pain shooting up his legs.

'No time, run!' He told himself again. Despite his nerves arguing wildly, he got up and started to move. A back door opened. Mack burst out wielding a muscular arm.

"Jones! You broke my goddamn window! You know how much that cost?" He roared.

"A pittance, if I know you," JC managed to retort and threw a wad of money into the air. Mack caught behind him but that didn't stop him shouting out more profanities JC couldn't quite catch.

He was back out on the streets again and looked for any direction to run in, more importantly, any direction he shouldn't run in. He looked back instinctively. His pursuers weren't there. Any of them. He didn't stop to think about it, he just took off.

* * *

Sailor Venus and Sailor Mercury managed to break in without incident from the roof of the building. Crawling through the attic, they descended to the second floor, which looked to contain a series of rooms up for rent. From the looks of one, they all left a lot to be desired.

Sailor Venus would have drawn in the atmosphere a bit longer to get used to the smell but she heard gunfire. Without thinking, she ran down the hallway and rounded a corner to locate its source and stopped. There, trying desperately to unlock one of the rooms was a young man. He couldn't have been older than twenty. He looked up at her with fear in his eyes. There was a second's silence before he shouted at her. "Duck!"

More gunfire. She forced herself backwards and allowed gravity to do its job, taking Mercury with her as bullets came rushing past where they had just stood. She looked back, the man was gone and three more were at the end of the hallway. All of them armed with pistols. She rolled to her right behind cover of the wall and felt Mercury dive and roll over her.

"Who was that?" Mercury asked.

"The guy at the door or the guys with the guns?"

"Both."

"The guy at the door, I'm sure was JC," she said with a hint of pride. "I finally saw his face. Did you get him?" She asked.

Mercury had her visor out and tapped it. She got a picture and Venus couldn't help but smile despite being fired at. "How did you know to get his face on camera?" She asked.

"I didn't, I just had the camera read on my computer, just in case."

"Quick thinking," she acknowledged. "But to get to him, we have to go through those guys."

Sailor Mercury nodded. "Leave it to me. Mercury Bubbles Blast!" She unleashed a thick blanket of fog into the hallway. Sailor Venus knew the drill. They both used the mist as cover and charged the gunmen. She took the first by his gun arm and aimed it to the floor as the man instinctively pulled the trigger. She felt the floor between her legs splinter and thrust her knee into the man's solar plexus. He doubled over. She twisted the gun arm and heard the weapon clatter to the floor.

She wasted no time in focusing her attention on the second man. He heightened sense of sight saw him trying to find a target. Before he had the chance to find one, she spun on one heel and brought her other about. Her body lowered almost until her face brushed the ground, giving her more balance as her other leg came up. She almost performed the splits as her foot connected with a jaw. The gunman was knocked off his feet and down the hallway.

She came back to a standing position and took an attacking stance and looked around to Mercury. She had dealt with the third gunman, having twisted his gun arm behind his back and slammed him to the wall, rendering the man unconscious.

Without breaking stride, Venus charged downthe door JC had disappeared through and knocked open. The lock was reduced to shrapnel from the attack. The fog from Mercury's attack was beginning to dissipate. The room was empty and the window broken. JC had fled.

"He's gone!" Venus reported. "Come on, we have to find him!"

She ran and leapt through the window head first with her arms stretched out in front of her. In mid flight, she twisted and performed a perfect somersault, landing graciously at the bottom. Mercury was not far behind her, choosing to step out and jump cautiously to the ground feet first. She landed in a crouch.

"From the way these trash bags are dragged, I'd say he went this way," Mercury quickly analysed. They both ran off in the JC fled.

* * *

JC rounded the building at the end of the next block. Needing to get out of sight, he found a fire escape on the side of the apartment block was by. He jumped up on a dumpster and slung his sports bag over his shoulder. He jumped again and caught hold of the ladder not unlatched. With the extra weight of the bag, he struggled up but there eventually and climbed over on to the metallic walk way.

It took him precious few minutes to scale the ascent until he reached the top level. He climbed over the top and sunk to the floor on the other side. He felt sure he was clear. He took in shallow and rushed breathes. This allowed his senses to catch up with him. Terrible pain raging through the back his legs as well as his back aching from his jump just moments before.

It felt uncomfortable to sit the way he was. With great effort, he raised himself to sit on the wall that bordered the roof he stood on. There was a stairwell exit to the far corner. He preferred to get out that way instead of climbing back down the way he came up. He staggered to his full height and with the gait of a drunken man, stumbled towards the door.

A sharp pain suddenly erupted at the bottom of his neck, overwhelming him. He blacked out and fell to the floor.

Behind him, Sailor Venus stood over his form. Her arm still raised across her chest from the chop she had just delivered to him. A mixture of satisfaction and anger on her face. Sailor Mercury was on her communicator already.

"We have JC, he's unconscious. Could we take him to your place?" She asked.

"Sure thing," Makoto responded. "I'll prepare a welcoming party."

* * *

Thanks for reading the chapter and my fic in general! My stats page tells me this fic has had over 20 hits per chapter in the last couple of weeks, yet only one person left a review out of all those hits :( Be a sport and leave a review, its the only I can tell if I need to improve my style in anyway. Go on, it'll only take a few seconds, the button's right there

V


	5. Chapter Five

One Way Or Another  
Chapter Five  
By Ryan Bodle

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and all associated characters are the property of Takeuchi Naoko, and Toei Animation. JC and 13 are developed characters by the author.

* * *

Just barely on the edge of awareness, he realised everything was pitch black. He couldn't hear anything either. Was there nothing there to hear or was he unable to hear? He couldn't see anything. He tried to look down at his own body. Still nothing. His eyes twitched. They were closed. He was asleep. 'I fell unconscious,' he remembered. 'What happened before then?' 

He remembered the rooftop. The stair well door, he was almost in the clear, hidden from his pursuers. Then there was a sharp pain and he passed out. His neck started to ache and burn. Somebody had knocked him out. 'Sailor V?' He asked himself. 'She finally caught up with me.'

He realised now that he was on the edge of awareness. No quite unconscious but not quite awake. Half of him wanted to wake up so he could move on and get away. A more doubting yet rational part of him wanted to stay sleeping and not discover the predicament he was no doubt in.

A creak of light invaded his vision. Or at least what counted for his vision. He heard a voice but couldn't understand it. Proof that he was not among friends. They knew he was stirring. He couldn't keep the ruse of sleep any longer. 'Might as well face the music,' he inwardly sighed. He slowly opened his eyes.

Three figures came into focus. He knew the blonde on the right straight away. No mask, but undoubtedly her. He'd seen the smaller girl with blue hair before, but only once. She had a blue visor across her face and seemed to be looking through the flickering display at him as if she was deeply studying him. The third girl, he had never seen before. A tall Amazon of a girl with attire similar to the others but decorated green. She had an intense look and was clearly not pleased with him at all. He knew all to well there too many reasons to count as to why. Still, as they were all lined up, he couldn't help but notice how each of them looked like goddesses.

He took a deep, sobering breath before speaking. "Have I died and gone to heaven?"

Sailor V rolled her eyes and then fixed an unpleased look at him. The blue haired girl said something he couldn't understand. He instantly assumed he and Sailor V were the only English speaking people in the room. There was a pregnant silence before Sailor V took two steps forward.

"Sailor Mercury is using her computer to monitor your vital signs. Pulse, breathing, eye movements, everything," she explained very clinically.

"I'm flattered," he answered. "Any reason why?"

"So she can tell when you're lying," she replied flatly.

JC watched Sailor Mercury continue to study him through that visor then back at Sailor V. "So this is an interrogation?"

"Yes."

"Well," he replied. "Do I get to call my lawyer?"

"Don't play games with us, JC," she warned. "You seem to be playing a very dangerous one already. You don't want to make us mad too."

"Too late really, isn't it?" He said back. "My neck is really killing me right now. You could have just asked if I'd come quietly, you know?"

"You would have said yes?" She asked back just as quickly. JC looked away from her. The curtains were drawn across the only window in the room. He shrugged. "So," she began and paced across the room in front of him. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm on holiday actually," he replied casually. "Thought I'd do some sightseeing. Of course, it hasn't all gone to plan but I'm happy with the view so far."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "What was the plan?"

"Well, I don't know. Maybe spend a week or so about the place. I was thinking of going north for a bit. Find a nice, quiet town. Get myself a job. Get my own place. Live out my days and so on and so forth, you know."

"That doesn't really sound like you," she retorted.

"Oh?" JC asked with a hint of offence leaking in his voice. "And what does sound like me? Perhaps I'm some gun wielding maniac looking to cause mayhem and destruction everywhere I go?"

She remained silent. Not showing any remorse but rather trying to think out carefully her next question. "Who were the men chasing you?"

JC looked her up and down and fixed her with a carefree look. "Call yourself a man these days? If you're serious about that kind of lifestyle, I wouldn't run around in skirts if I were you." She raised a hand to cut him off.

Sailor Mercury briefly spoke to her and Sailor V nodded. "Do you know the men who were chasing you? Besides us," she added carefully.

He took a breath. "No," he said briefly. Sailor Mercury said something again.

"You're lying," Sailor V explained. He looked away from her gaze. This computer was good. He'd had fooled lie detectors before. It wasn't easy, but he had done it. This computer didn't even falter that maybe he had lied. It could tell straight away that he was lying, without a doubt. Maybe if he broke his eye contact with the visor he could fool it. "Looking away won't help."

He looked back at her, desperately trying to hide the scowl that would give away how defeated he felt. "These men," she started again. "Were they gangsters?"

JC snickered. "Gangsters? Something like that," he answered amused.

"Yes or no."

He shrugged again. "Yeah, for lack of better term." Sailor Mercury said nothing and continued to watch him. He needed to reclaim the upper hand in this conversation and quickly. He decided to look away again, as if bored by the proceedings.

"Do you know why they were here?"

"Tokyo's a really good vacation destination?" He suggested.

"Yes or no," she enforced again.

"No," he said, trying to make it sound as bored as he looked. He didn't look at Sailor Mercury, he couldn't afford to. It would give it away. But the silence that followed told him he'd beaten this lie detector. He barely held off the triumphant grin he wanted to wear. Maybe there was a way out of this after all.

Finally, Sailor V spoke again. "Are you ever going to tell us the truth?"

'Damn!' He cursed to himself. He still managed to keep the neutral expression on his face through some miracle. He never remembered being so self-controlled. "No," he answered honestly, and then he looked at Sailor V and made sure their eyes met. "Are you going to torture me?"

She turned away from him and he allowed himself a victorious grin as she spoke to her friends in Japanese. He watched the tall brown haired girl take a determined step towards him. He flinched minutely but Sailor V held up a hand to stop her. He kept his cool and merely smiled back in a non-harmful way. It was more insulting than wearing a cocky grin.

The three left the room and he was free to study his surroundings seriously without them suspecting anything. There had to be a way out of here.

* * *

"This is no good guys," Venus sighed. "I guess from the way he talks, he's been questioned before and we won't get anything out of him." 

"Just give me a chance Mina," Jupiter growled. "A couple of twists of the arms, I'm sure he'll start singing. He'll regret bringing an army of thugs with him to our town."

"I don't think it'd work," Venus mused. "I get the feeling there's something more important to him than escaping a quarter-nelson."

"There's no such thing as a quarter-nelson," Jupiter sighed. Venus shrugged the sentence off. "So how do we get to him?"

"What about that?" Sailor Mercury suggested pointing to the bag JC was carrying. "I bet that's just about the only source of income he has right now and he's helpless without it."

"That might just work," Jupiter said. "So we put the pressure on his cash flow, keep working that lie detector program Mercury cooked up going-."

"I think I'm going to have to make some additions," Mercury interrupted. "Right before we ended that questioning, he almost threw me off. Before long, he could tell us pigs fly and my computer wouldn't know if he was lying or not."

"No way can he be that good," the brunette replied.

"Well, I'm not really an expert in lie detecting so the program I made up is pretty crude right now. Maybe if I researched it a little bit further, I could make some additions to the program to make it more reliable."

Sailor Venus had resorted to chewing on her finger slightly whilst her fist was loosely clenched underneath her chin. "Venus?" Jupiter asked waving a hand in front of her face. She snapped back to reality. "What do you think? Should we wait until Mercury fixes up her computer program?"

"How long will it take?" Venus asked Mercury. The blue haired senshi answered with a slight shrug. "Well, if you haven't got a better idea." Venus concluded. "I think I'll go see Rei and Usagi. I don't want to go overboard with this stuff. I mean we're not crooks or cops, so if we can't finish this by tonight we should let him go."

"You can't be serious," Jupiter argued.

"Venus is right," Mercury added. "We can't keep him here, someone will notice."

"But the trouble he could cause, the instant we let him go," Jupiter snapped her fingers for emphasis.

"What else can we do?" Mercury asked. "We're not the Yakuza or Mafia we're trying to stop. And we're certainly not the police. We have to let him go at some point."

"I hate this," Venus said bitterly.

"Ditto," Jupiter snorted. "How about we give it a couple of hours and meet back at here?" The other two girls nodded.

"Leave as quietly as you can," Venus instructed. "With any luck, JC will think we're still here the whole time."

* * *

Captain Kinomoto stalked into Detective Koshiro's office. "How are you doing with the bank robbery?" 

Koshiro briefly finished typing at his keyboard and then looked up this superior. "We have some leads we're following up but we're not acting on any of them yet because it could put pressure on our suspects to go underground."

"I need some results on this," Kinomoto snapped. "I have some heavy weights really pushing me for a full statement. The bank itself, insurance reps, damage control companies needing to know how safes were damaged." He listed. "Then there's local politicians, the press and the public. They all want something we can give them. The politicians are probably being leant on to make a statement on street patrols and keeping the city safe. The press want answers, the public are very unnerved by the whole incident. What are you doing to solve this?"

"Looking for arrests of course," Koshiro replied lightly. "We have some CCTV stills of the thieves but nothing clear. Some of the witnesses were able to provide accurate descriptions for our artists."

"I was told that you got a call from Scotland Yard too," the captain added. Koshiro looked interested in his monitor suddenly.

"Hmm?" He turned away and looked back at Kinomoto. "Oh, yes. They had information and an alias ID of someone at the bank, but he wasn't in league with the robbers. Seemed to be against them actually, it's a separate incident we'll follow up as soon as we've exhausted our leads."

"Don't you think you should put an APB out on him?"

"Not really," Koshiro answered filtering through the piles of notebooks on his desk. "We do that, we're very sure it'll force him underground. No, we'll hold that card for now. It'll be easier to track him down that way."

Kinomoto closed the door to Koshiro's office and lowered his voice. "Listen, Heero. Very important and influential people are asking me for answers and they're kicking my ass right now. I need you to link this guy to the robbery and put an APB out on him."

"Ai-san, that isn't going to help us catch him."

"That isn't the issue right now, I need to provide the people of this city with something positive that something is being done. Now give me this JC's file because if you won't do this, I will and I'll take you off the case."

"I'm sorry, the file isn't here. It's with Rosa," Koshiro answered.

"Well when you see him, tell him to hand over the file. Or you can spare me the trouble and do it yourself," Captain Ai Kinomoto left the office.

Koshiro Heero slouched back into his chair and squinted his eyes. This case was getting tougher, especially now there was a time limit. He picked up his phone and dialled a number. "Rosa here."

"Jyou? I need you to be away from the station for the rest of the day," Koshiro replied. "Good, meet me at the bar after work, we need to go over some things."

* * *

He had sat alone for some time, it could have been close to an hour but he hadn't kept count. Perhaps they had left him there. "Hey!" He shouted aloud, hoping to get some attention. "How about a toilet break?" No answer. "You can't keep me tied up here! It's inhuman!" Still no answer. "I swear to God, V, I'm gonna piss all over the floor!" Silence answered him. He'd thought the threat of soiling the wood floor would have gotten some reaction. They must have left. 

His hands were bound by string. It was pretty weak but there was enough there to prevent him from moving his hands and breaking the bonds. Likewise, his feet were also tied to the legs of the chair, which was starting to get very uncomfortable. He placed his heel hard against the floor and dragged it backwards, his shoe started to slip off. Another attempt and it was clean off now. With that obstacle off, the string was just loose enough for him to slip his foot free. He repeated the process with the other foot so he was completely free from the chair, now all he had to do was to free his hands.

He slid along the seat and slid his arms up and over the back of the chair so that they now rested behind his back. He slid them underneath him and under the back of his legs, brought his knees to his chest so he could bring his hands in front of his body. Now in a better position to study the string that tied his hands, he noticed the knots were done well enough that he'd need to cut through. This place had to have a kitchen and that kitchen had to have knives.

* * *

Rosa Jyou was already at the bar waiting for him. They had only met here a few times after work but Koshiro liked this place and could see him and Rosa making a habit out of this. He sat down next to his partner. The Hispanic/Japanese detective looked up and smiled to greet his superior. "So who paid you a visit today?" 

"Captain Kinomoto," Koshiro answered.

"Got you a drink," Rosa added. "Sparkling water, right?"

"Thanks," Koshiro lifted the glass tumbler and drank from it. He preferred whiskey, but real whiskey. Nothing you could find at a bar. His favourite was Scottish single malt. They had pretty much invented the drink. If he couldn't get something close, he just preferred water. "Something really stinks about this whole case."

"What did the captain want?"

"To link JC to the robbery and place an APB out on him," Koshiro answered. He heard Rosa curse under his breath.

"They got to Captain Kinomoto?" Rosa mused.

"I don't think so," Koshiro answered. "I know Ai pretty well. But somebody is putting the pressure on and he needs results."

"But they're not even related, it was pure coincidence that this JC was there."

"The bigger coincidence is that someone was so desperate to pin it on JC in the first place," Koshiro concluded. "It would make this whole case more convenient, wouldn't it?"

There was silence between the two whilst Koshiro let Rosa think that over. Finally the younger detective spoke up. "It's a hit."

"We need to find this JC quickly," Koshiro added. "The kind probably has very little to do with all this. Screw the case, we need to find him before he gets killed."

* * *

"I don't like the sound of it," Usagi said blandly. She looked at the ground to avoid the looks of her friends. 

"I didn't think you would. To be honest, I don't either," Aino Minako replied. "It's just what could follow." She trailed off. "It's not as if it's something we can't handle, but people could get hurt, innocent people."

"Well we could just try blackmailing him with the money," Hino Rei suggested. "I mean what can we do with it in the end? We'd probably have to turn it in with JC himself."

"Why can't we turn over JC and the money?" Usagi asked. "The police would be better at questioning him, and it's not as if we would be doing something wrong."

"It's an option," Mina responded but looked deep in thought. "And it's the right one but why do I get the feeling we're missing something important?"

Rei raised an eyebrow at her blonde friend. "What makes you think that?"

"Just something about what JC said when I last saw him in London. About getting out, what did he mean by that?"

"Why don't you ask him?" Usagi suggested.

"He didn't exactly respond well to the last set of questions we asked him."

"So ask him different ones," Usagi answered. "If you think there's something more to all of this, why don't you try helping JC instead of fighting him?"

Mina's jaw dropped at the very idea. How could Usagi even think that? "I just can't," she responded defensively.

"Why?"

'Why?' Mina asked mentally. 'Does that even need explaining?' She turned to Rei. "Rei?" She asked for help. Incredibly the girl shrugged.

"She kind of has a point," the Shinto priestess answered. "I get the idea he's less than honourable. But I also get the feeling he's more than just a crook. He sounds almost desperate to me."

"So let's ask him why he needs that money and what happened," Usagi concluded. Minako sighed in return. She knew this would never work.

"Ok," she resigned. Three simultaneous beeps sounded as the girls' communicators sounded. Mina answered hers first. "Yes? Mako-chan?"

Makoto wore a worried expression as she spoke. "JC's gone from my apartment, guys."

* * *

A/N: Many thanks to Snake556 and Serene Amethyst for reviewing. Thanks for your input, guys. If anyone else is reading this, please let me know what you think! 


	6. Chapter Six

One Way Or Another  
Chapter Six  
By Ryan Bodle

* * *

A/N: Sorry for the delay guys. Besides the holidays, I've been trying to type up chapters for my other fics. I've taken advantage of message board system and created some boards to use for anyone who wants to comment or ask about my stories in any shape or form so use please check them out. I'm also starting to use my profile as an updates page, so be sure to check that out from time to time.

* * *

Detective Rosa peered down into his beer bottle, idly passing time that was occupied by silence between him and Koshiro. "How do we close this case?" He asked. Truthfully, he was thinking out loud and not speaking to anyone in particular.

"This case is far from closable," Koshiro murmured and took another sip from his drink.

"What do we do?" Rosa asked, starting to sound frustrated. The older detective sighed and turned round to face him.

"I had hoped we had more time, but looks like we'll have to pass the buck to avoid trouble."

"You mean give the case to someone else?"

Koshiro shook his head in response. "This case is hot potato, Rosa. No doubt this was passed on to us because nobody else wanted it and now we're stuck with it unless we do the same. We have to make it look like this JC left town already."

"How will that help?"

"Well, if it becomes public knowledge that he's skipped town, maybe even the country, we'll avoid an all out gang war. It'll leave a lot unanswered for, we won't like what the captain has to say, but it's our best option." Rosa glared sideways at his partner. Koshiro took a deep breath. "OK, I hope not, but have you ever heard a case, arrest or suspect been called 'Icy'?"

"Icy?" Rosa repeated. "Yeah I overheard it mentioned once. I asked what it meant by the sergeant said it wasn't the time to talk about it."

"It's never the time to talk about it," Koshiro explained. He cast cautious glances about him. "About fifteen years ago, there was an arrest made on one Iku Kenta. The media were all over it. You couldn't have been more than just a kid back then."

"I wasn't even in the country, I still lived with my mother in Mexico."

"Well, during a raid on an apartment, Iku was found taking indecent pictures of a minor, had a whole stash in his apartment. The newspapers labelled him 'Icy Iku,'" Koshiro paused and pointed at his own eyes. "He had this stare. Empty but malignant look about him."

"Sounds pretty cut and dry." Rosa commented. Koshiro immediately shook his head.

"Within two hours of his phone call, Iku's lawyer was at the station, ripped right through the questioning officer and the whole arrest. Iku stood to post bail that same day and even walk free."

"How?"

"Evidence suggesting Iku was even doing what he was doing was so circumstantial that we could get a search warrant on him. Remember the law wasn't so tight on people like him back then. Two rookie cops stormed Iku's residence during a patrol that was far from routine. The whole bust was illegal and because of the media attention, we couldn't lay a finger on him."

"So he walked?"

"No, he died. An unknown protestor shot him dead two days before he was due for trial. To this day the case goes unclosed because nobody was able to determine how he obtained so many illicit pictures, they weren't all his."

"And nobody found out who shot him?" Rosa concluded. Koshiro had a sort of unsatisfied smile on his lips.

"The case isn't closed but as far as the town's concerned, it's dealt with. That's what it means to have an 'Icy Case.'"

"Are you suggesting we kill JC?"

"We're cops, not killers," Koshiro snapped. "I'm not happy about this, Rosa, but we have to achieve the greater good by avoiding the possible violence this JC's appearance could have brought to our city."

Rosa cursed in Spanish under his breath. "Alright, how do we do it?"

"We have to obtain evidence to suggest our prime suspect has left the city and preferably the country," Koshiro explained.

"You mean create?" Rosa tagged.

"Obtain, Rosa," the older man corrected. "Never say such words. They could be liable."

* * *

The day had gone on too long and she desperately needed rest. Reluctantly, Mina had let the other senshi search for JC and get him back. She was forced to go home and sleep. She dragged her heels to her bedroom opened the door and closed it behind her, slumping against it.

Just on the edge of her vision, something moved and she instinctively looked towards it. Someone was there, in the room with her. She gripped her school bag tighter, ready to swing as a weapon. JC glared back at her without his mask. She froze. He knew who she was. Her mind reeled as she tried to comprehend how he had discovered her secret and what she was going to do now. His voice cut her attention back immediately.

"Your cat is a bloody psycho," he told her.

"Artemis?" She gasped. "What did you do to him?"

"He's outside, I didn't hurt him," he quickly dismissed. "And keep your voice down, do you want to get us caught?" He sat down on her bed. "I've got a bone to pick with you."

Mina's panic dropped to extreme discomfort. She remained silent by the door, trying to figure something out, trying to work out how she could keep her identity safe. He didn't seem to notice that she was half listening to him. Something he said next brought her attention back to him. "Excuse me?" She asked shocked.

"You fucked me," he repeated. "That's it, I'm dead and it's your fault."

"How is this my fault?" Mina snapped back. "You're the criminal. And what do you mean dead?"

"Ceasing to live," he explained. "I'm living on borrowed time now. I was so close to escaping, you have no idea. Now I have no way of getting my money, so I can't run. I can't stay unless I want to die and hiding is impossible. What do I do?"

Mina's mouth was hung open in answer. Somehow, she never expected she would need to explain herself to someone like JC. "You obviously have no idea of who I am, do you?" He carried on. "No idea." He began pacing about her room now.

"Just what the hell are you going on about?" She demanded. He stopped his pacing and glared at her, a snarl forming on his features. "You're one of the most notorious criminals I chased down in London, and the only one to escape. You come to Tokyo, my home by the way and bring gang wars with you. Then you have the nerve to say I don't know anything? I don't care about you, JC. I care about what's going to happen if I don't stop you."

"It's not me you need to stop!" JC just barely kept his voice down. "You just assumed I was a low life thieving killer the first time we met when I never killed anybody."

"But you stole. And a lot from what I hear. Are you seriously trying to justify yourself to me? I can't believe you."

"Oh that's right," JC nodded. "Everything's black and white to you, isn't it? Doesn't matter the people I robbed were the real criminal's."

"Two wrongs don't make a right," Mina retorted. JC's attitude was becoming tiring.

"No, its called getting even. Thirteen took away my life, so I stole myself a living out of his pocket."

Mina cocked an eyebrow. "Who's 13?"

"The real person you should be worried about. He's a ring leader for the Circle," JC paused. "Wait? Why am I explaining myself to you?"

"Because you need my help," the blonde answered not breaking pace.

"I need your help?" JC asked in shock.

"Don't kid yourself, JC," she answered. "You haven't come to kill me since you already testified you're not a killer. So you need my help and you're not getting so much as a little finger until I get what I want. Information." The young man glared at her, clearly unhappy with the deal. "Now who is 13?"

The sound of Mina's parents moving around outside her bedroom door attracted JC's attention. "We can't talk here," he answered. "We'll talk somewhere more private. Any suggestions?"

She thought about it. Where was safe?

"What about this Temple, here?" JC was holding a small green address book and a kanji-English dictionary.

"Where'd you get that?" She asked.

"Book shop," JC replied sarcastically.

"The address book," she explained.

"Oh yeah. It's how I found you. I think it's your friend's phone book," he explained. "You know you shouldn't leave this crap just lying about. It's dangerous."

Mina snatched the book from him. "Fine," she snapped. "Cherry Hill Temple, tomorrow morning. First thing."

"Ok then," he agreed. He turned to the window. "Night," he said in charming voice and a smile. With that, he slid the window open and disappeared into the night.

Just then, there was a knock on the door. "Mina, honey? Is there someone in there with you?"

"No Mom!" Mina yelped in surprise. "Good night!"

"Night, dear."

Before going to sleep, Mina jumped on her bed and activated her communicator. She had to pass the news on. Just as she finished, she heard a disgruntled Artemis make his back into her room, throwing all kinds of curses at JC. She buried her head in the pillows. For some reason, she couldn't help giggle a little.

* * *

"Why did it have to be so early?" Serena complained as she shook off another yawn.

"I want this to be over quickly," Mina replied dreamily. She was replaying last night events in her head still. "Besides, it's not as if it's any different than waking up for school, Usagi."

"Yeah, but we don't have school," she griped.

The two friends mounted the stairs towards the Temple to see Amy already at the top waving to them. "Guys! You have to help stop Raye! She's gone nuts!"

The two blondes ran up the stairs to see their friend beating a man covering himself on the floor in the foetal position.

**Five minutes earlier…**

Raye glared at the huddle of a man who decided it would be ok to sleep up against the side of her house. A large coated covered his body and a hood hid his face. For the third time, she poked him with her broom. "Hey! Wake up!"

Suddenly the man jerked and swatted away the broom with one arm. He shouted something she couldn't get. He stumbled up from his sitting position and swaggered. 'He's drunk!' she thought to herself and stepped back, being cautious of him. He mumbled something at her then looked at his hand. His eyes blinked several times as he struggled to focus.

He called her something. She didn't quite hear him. "That's it, I'm calling the police," she said and left him.

"Raye!" He shouted behind her back, making her stop. She turned back and looked at the guy. How did he know her name? Knowing he made a connection, he walked towards her saying her name several times in quick succession. He raised his arms and began talking very quickly. She stepped back defensively. He stopped and raised his hands as if to suggest he wasn't trying to hurt her.

"Raye," he said plainly, pointing at her. Then began making hand motions that looked like he impersonating a bird. "Mina," he added. She looked at him more confused. He slumped in defeat and then sighed heavily. Slowly, he pointed to himself with both hands and said. "JC."

Her eyes went wide with shock. That guy was JC. Instinct kicked and she reversed the grip on her broom.

**JC's Point of View…**

Somewhere, a small breeze whistled gently. It was soothing. He felt the fringes of consciousness start to fall from him. Finally. Suddenly He felt jerk in the shoulder to bring him back. He ignored it. He needed sleep. He just couldn't sleep anymore. He was so close, not now. 'Don't wake up. Not now, not now,' he thought. A second jab bringing him back. 'Please,' he begged mentally. 'Just let me sleep.' A third jab brought him fully awake.

His eyes snapped and immediately targeted the end of a broom handle. "Knock it off!" He snapped. Beneath his hood, he saw some girl dressed in a robe. She was staring daggers right through him. He didn't care. He was so pissed she robbed him of precious sleep. He was so close to actually sleeping.

He stumbled up and looked at her. The place swayed as he struggled to stay up. He tried to lock eyes with her and throw an impetuous look her way. He failed miserably. "Maybe you're one of them," he mumbled and raised his hand.

The dirty palm had several phonetic inscriptions on it. "Is your name Amy?" He mumbled again and cleared his throat. She obviously didn't hear him and walked away from him.

"Wait," he said after. "Hey! Do you know a Raye?"

The girl stopped. Slowly she turned round and looked back at him. 'She must be Ray.' He thought. "Ok, Raye.!" He said walking up to her. "Raye, Raye, Raye, Raye, Raye, Raye."

She stepped back as he approached her. "Look, I'm not going to hurt you, ok?" He held up his hands submissively. "I'm here to meet up with you and Sailor Venus to talk about the Circle and everything. And you're going to help me and we're all going to get along ok? And you're staring at me so confused, you have no idea what I'm saying, do you?"

She looked at him with a baffled expression. Trying to work him out. "Fine," he said. "Raye." He pointed at her. Then mimicked his hand. "Talk with. Mina." She still didn't seem to get it.

He sagged. "This is probably going to hurt," he muttered. He pointed to himself and said. "JC."

Her eyes changed in a second. Relieved she recognised the name, he finally thought he could get somewhere with her. Before he could act on it, she had brought her broom stick round the side of his head. Pain erupted around his temple. "Ow!" he reacted covering the side of his head.

Another whiplash came across his back. "Cut it out!" She began repeatedly bashing him around the head and back with the stick, shouting in Japanese. "Help!" He started to run from her. He tripped over a low swing and clattered to the ground. He curled into a ball and covered himself as she continued to hit him. "Someone get her off!" He pleaded.

* * *

Mina instantly realised what was going on as she saw the helpless form of JC cower from the Shinto priestess. She held back a smirk. "I think I'm going to allow this," she said as she watched the punishment.

"Get her off me!" JC pleaded as he suffered the beating Raye dealt out. "V! Come on! Get her off!"

With a giggle, Mina subdued he desire and held onto Raye's arm. "Hold on Raye," she said. "It's ok, he's not a threat."

"You can say that again," Raye said catching her breath. "He was sleeping rough, outside the Temple."

In English, JC raged. "What did you let her keep hitting me for?" He asked, his cockney accent ringing clear with bad grammar. He got up and began dusting himself off. "She ripped right through my coat," he complained indicating a lash in his over coat. He then nursed the wound on his head which was weeping. "Someone get me a tissue or something."

None of the girls moved. He looked at Mina, perfectly well aware she was the only one who understood. "V, show a heart, will ya?" He whimpered.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, JC was tending to a bleeding lip with a piece of gauze. The rest of it was fixed to his head by bandage. The girls and Mamoru surrounded him, waiting for him to start talking. "You going to translate this to them, then?" He asked Mina. The blonde girl nodded.

"Alright," JC sat down and made himself comfortable. "I'm running from a city firm who call themselves 'The Circle.'"

"City firm?" Mina asked.

"OK, gang. Their gangsters, alright?" JC replied testily. "Back in the 70's, rumour had it, they had started out as a city firm for a football team. Firms were a glorified term, a code for gangs. Basically, they were hooligans who watched their team kick a ball about on Saturdays, then go find the other team's hooligans and they would all kick the shit out of each other. Doing their best for their own colours."

Mina translated back his words and the last sentence caused a disapproving look come over the girls. "Not charming, but city life back then. Still is, actually." JC commented. "The Circle were a notorious firm back then. They grew stronger every year, attracting more drunken psychos as they went.

But that's all it was. Backyard scraps. Nasty backyard scraps, but just scraps. End of the weekend, each man would go back to his wife and kids and a Monday to Friday job.

Well, because of The Circle's reputation, they had enough attention from the rest of the world. Police blaming them for anything they could, rival firms always trying to get the better of them. At work, even at home. Eventually, The Circle stood up for themselves, became what you would call an organised gang. Began running syndicates and schemes. Most were legal, but others were another story. They began arms dealing eventually. It was all for protection, really. Come the start of the eighties, certain gang leaders just disappeared. They were a message to anyone who threatened the men from North London. They had had enough and weren't taking shit from anyone.

Back then, some guy called Christie Burns was in charge. Someone you did not want to mess with. He just didn't give a shit about anything or anyone. He stayed in charge because he installed the fear The Circle needed to live their lives."

He paused to let Mina finish translating. Feeling his audience with their eyes fixed totally on him. He let the background settle in to them. "1987, something happened that turned the London underworld on its head. Known legal assets for The Circle began drying up. Business went under; stocks were sold for rock bottom prices. They completely removed themselves from the legal business world. Rumour had it, they tied contacts for almost all of their illegal businesses as well.

For two months, nothing. Not a peep from The Circle. Until one day, a body was found tied to Brixton train station fence, burned black. The police identified the body as Christie Burns. Over the next week, police found several more corpses belonging to all the known Circle ring leaders. From what anyone can tell. Someone took over business. A complete nobody and killed off anyone who could lead back to them.

What had been the most intimidating gang of thugs in London had just become the most feared crime syndicate in England in just six days. The problem was that no one knew who The Circle was. They were a total mystery and it's stayed that way ever since.

A little while ago, I had a confrontation with someone who belonged to The Circle. Our conflict got noticed by one of the ring leaders today. They all go by a number and that's it. Well, 13 decided to take care of me personally. I survived. No idea how. But in the process, I learned his real name. For this reason, he wants me dead and will use any means necessary to make that happen. So now you know."

"That's it?" Mina asked.

"Yeah," JC answered surprised. "What. You wanted to know about The Circle and 13. There you go."

"That doesn't make sense," Mina said back. "How does a personal vendetta cause a gang war in Tokyo? You're not a gang all by yourself."

"Of course not," JC answered. "13 wasn't going to come here on his own and kill me on somebody else's home ground, was he? He used the local Yakuza's help to track me down. Then he betrayed them." Mina didn't even bother asking. She knew is she waited long enough, he would carry on. "Yesterday there was an explosion reported in a slum part of the city. That was 13. Now the Yakuza will want revenge. And to get revenge, they need me. If they have me, they can bargain with 13 and take him out."

Mina looked at her friends. "Ok guys, that's his story. What do you think?"

"It stinks," Lita answered immediately. "There's something he isn't telling us."

"Can we really trust him?" Raye added.

"Yeah," Mina replied. "He's not exactly a trustworthy guy. But I don't think he's lying. He just wants to escape."

"So? Who knows what he'd get up to elsewhere in the world," Serena added. "After everything he's been up to, we should just hand him straight over to the police."

"I agree," Amy nodded. "They would know what to do with him."

Darien raised a finger to list a point. "And what all the money he was running around with?"

"I want to know about that too," Mina replied and faced JC. "Where did you get all the money you were carrying around?"

JC shrugged. "Why do you care? It's mine."

"What is it? Drug money?"

"Its mine," JC answered in a growl. "Drop it." Lita responded to his tone by standing to full height and balling her fists. "Put a leash on her V!" He demanded pointing at her. "Or you'll get your gang war, I shit you not."

Mina held her arm out in front of Lita to hold her off. "Tell us about the money. Or you're on your own."

JC stared at her with burning eyes. "Fine," he said menacingly. "This was a mistake. See you later." He got up and walked away from the group. He put as much space between himself and the group before they could react. They all failed to react. They watched him walk down the temple steps towards the street. They watched him cross the road.

Then they watched a car approach and knock into him. They watched four men get out and grab him. Before Mina could even retrieve her henshin wand, they had stuffed JC in the car and screeched away from the scene.

"That can't be good," Lita said. "If that was the Yakuza, then it's just like JC said. There'll be killings next."

"We have to find him. Have to stop this spilling over into the streets," Serena responded.

* * *

Please leave a review people! 


	7. Chapter Seven

One Way Or Another  
Chapter Seven  
By Ryan Bodle

A/N: Been a while, hasn't it? Sorry about the gap, I'll do my earnest to finish this as quickly as I can!

* * *

Rosa got into the office early. He didn't figure Captain Kinomoto would be in today, and even if he would be, certainly not before nine. He sat at Koshiro's desk reading the file on JC they had been conveniently given by Scotland Yard. The phone rang and he answered.

"Detective Rosa, moshi-moshi," he answered politely.

"Moshi-moshi," a woman replied. "I was hoping to speak to detective Koshiro, if that's possible."

"I'm afraid he won't be in for another hour," Rosa answered. "But I work most of his cases with him, perhaps I can help."

"Perhaps you can. My name is Sonia Williams and I work for Interpol," the woman replied in perfect japanese.

"Man, everyone has something to contribute to this case," Rosa chimed.

"So you are investigating the JC appearance?" Sonia inquired.

"Not as such," Rosa replied. "He's been linked to another case, but the only association we can make is that he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. We only know him through random luck."

"Really? Can I ask how?"

"Sure, one of your guys at Scotland Yard sent us a fax of his file to us."

"Were the British Police aware you were investigating the individual?" Sonia pressed.

Rosa paused. She was sharp and he was hoping to play for more time on what he had come to call the JC time bomb. "Their response to our inquiries about this guy were fast, that's for certain."

"How fast, detective?"

"As in precognitive," Rosa conceded. "They sent the information before we even contacted them."

"Now I see why you would be hesitant to come clean with me," Sonia answered. For someone who had only just spoken with him for two minutes, she didn't miss a thing. "Are you pursuing any active leads on JC right now?"

"No," Rosa replied. "We're currently trying to resolve the case he was linked to."

"I see. Well, perhaps I could take JC off your hands for you, we would very much like to question him ourselves."

"I'm sure you would," Rosa chimed. "I can't deny it sounds like a wonderful offer, but I'll have to let detective Koshiro give the final word."

"Well, you said he'd be in his office in about an hour, perhaps I should try then."

"I'll let him know you called."

"Thank you. Good day," the phone clicked and went to a dead line. As Rosa put the handset down, there was a knock at the door. It was the captain.

"Rosa, I wanted to see you. Do you have that JC file Scotland Yard gave you yesterday?" As Rosa stood up, the file slipped from his lap.

"File? Yes sir," Rosa responded sharply. "Let me see, it was on here somewhere." He muttered as he looked over the mountain of mess on the desk Koshiro worked at. Kinomoto sighed.

"Just bring it to my office as soon as you find it," the captain left quickly with an irritated look on his face. Rosa sighed. That was probably the last time either he or Koshiro could put off handing the JC file over. He felt the urge to get out of the station. The phone rang again. Koshiro sure was a popular guy.

"Koshiro's desk," Rosa answered.

"Detective?" A female voice responded. Not the same as before, she definitely sounded younger. Rosa's eyes widened. 'Could this be?' He asked himself.

"Yes?" He answered tentatively.

"You sound different," she tested.

"That would be because, I'm probably not the detective you were hoping for," Rosa admitted defeat.

"Oh, well then I'll call back later," the girl replied.

"I know who you are," Rosa said quickly before she hung up.

"I'm sorry? I don't understand."

"OK," Rosa replied. "I know you and Koshiro have a strictly secret relationship, but I think we could do with helping each other right now. So perhaps we could stop the pretending?"

"I really don't know what you're getting at. I have to go now."

"Its about JC, isn't it?" She didn't hang up. "Look, this situation is seriously starting to escalate and I believe you called detective Koshiro for help. Help I can also give you. Now anything you tell him, he'll tell me. He just won't tell me that it was you who told him, so why don't we cut out the middle man this time?"

"I'm sorry, I can't deal with anyone else."

"There's no time. Look, Interpol are on their way. They'll sweep the city if they have to and they'll find him. When they find him, there'll be trouble. We both know this," he tried.

"I don't believe they will detective. He'll be dead long before Interpol find anything," the girl replied. "We need help finding him."

"Anything I can do?"

The girl sighed. "I really prefer speaking to detective Koshiro."

"I'll bring him with me, just let me know what you need," he grabbed a pencil.

* * *

The bag was removed from his head and bright light suddenly filled his entire vision. He closed his eyes, saving himself from being blinded. He coughed and spluttered. The wind was still knocked out of him from the impact of the car earlier.

"You're a difficult man to locate JC," a voice said in rough English. "You caused us quite a bit of trouble."

"I get that a lot," JC replied indifferently. "Was running me down really necessary?"

"An added bonus," the man replied.

"How did you find me?"

"We remember you look like Mr JC. A rare privilege with you, we understand. It was mere chance that we drove by the temple when we saw you."

"Well, if you're going to kill me, hurry up. I hate waiting," JC responded, trying to control his anxiety.

"Tempting as it is, we're going to let you live JC," he was told. JC breathed deeply in relief. "And hand you over to a man mysteriously named 13. Tell me, does anyone from your country use their real name?"

JC's heart jumped. He should have known this was a possibility as well. "What do you get in exchange? Money?" JC asked. "He'll only betray you. Probably put a bomb in the suitcase he gives you."

"Oh, we've already learned that lesson," the voice chuckled. "In return, he is going to give us himself. When he shows up to take you, we'll have an opportunity for revenge, to kill him."

"He's not that naive," JC added. "He'll send someone else."

"I think not, he doesn't have the time or the resources to deny us a personal audience. The law enforcement agencies of the world are narrowing down on you," the man explained. "What happens to you is of no interest to me. But Mr 13 will pay for his treachery."

"Your voice sounds familiar," JC mused. A sudden realisation hit him. "You're the guys from the bank, aren't you?"

"Very perceptive of you."

The worst possible company he could keep. JC knew from their demeanor these guys were pros. They wouldn't slip up all the while they had JC in their possession. As soon as they met with 13, he could pretty much guarantee his lives had run out. With 13, he would meet his maker. And with these guys gunning for revenge, a full scale gang war would break out in the process. Then again, that was someone else's problem, not his. Facing his imminent death was the only thing that could occupy his mind right now.

* * *

"How long have you known about this, Rosa?" Koshiro asked as they drove down the streets of Tokyo.

"I followed you to one of your meetings a few weeks back," Rosa answered as he ensured he had everything Sailor Mercury had asked for. "I was kind of curious as to why you even let those girls run riot around town, but I guess I would be hypocritical now."

"The thought of letting those girls jump headlong into trouble make my whole body numb. I even feel sick sometimes," Koshiro explained. "But they're sure as hell used to it. Most of the time they stay out of police affairs. And when they do get involved, well I'd rather do as much as possible to keep them safe. I guess, I'm just trying to look out for them."

"I figured you'd say something like that," Rosa grinned.

Koshiro pulled up on the side of the street. "Wait here," he ordered and took the few sheets of paper that Rosa and put together so hastily. "I shouldn't be long."

He exited the car and disappeared down the alley he pulled up by. Rosa watched the darkness for a silhouette to appear. After two minutes, Koshiro reappeared and sat down in the driver's seat. He said nothing, just stared forward.

"So, what are we going to do now" Rosa asked.

"We're going to look for this JC person," Koshiro explained. "And find him before the streets break out in violence."

"What happened?"

"The local Yakuza have JC and plan to turn him over to a British gang. When the exchange takes place, a hit will be made and the two gangs will no doubt be at each other's throats as a result," Koshiro answered. He started the car up.

Rosa's eyes widened. "Do we know where this meeting is going to happen?"

"We may do," Koshiro replied. "It'll be somewhere remote and probably within Yakuza territory. There's an electronics company based on the outskirts of the city, they mainly do defense contracts. I happen to know several of their night watchmen are on the payroll."

"You know this officially?" Rosa chirped. Koshiro did not answer and the younger detective grinned. "You know, Koshiro? I would love to know where you get these hunches from."

"I'll show all the ropes one day Rosa," the older detective dismissed.

Rosa followed directions to the outskirts of the city. They pulled up half a kilometer from the grounds of Haiten-Mori Electronics. "I know a guy who works here," Rosa commented.

"He wouldn't happen to be working now, would he?" Koshiro asked.

"I don't think so, he's a regular nine to five kind if guy," Rosa said thoughtfully. He caught a blur of movement in his peripheral vision. Five blurs of shadow jumped the walls of the complex. "I should have known we were being followed."

"Couldn't be helped," Koshiro dismissed. "They know not to get involved unless it can't be helped. Lets look for a way in."

"We're going in alone?" Rosa asked surprisingly.

"We call anyone else in and the entire police force will know what's going on down here. Didn't we agree what a bad thing it was for anyone to know where to find this JC guy?"

"So what? We're going in to get him and let him go?" Rosa asked bewildered.

"You have a better idea?"

"Take him in."

"For what?" Koshiro asked, patience starting to wear thin. "Technically, this guy hasn't done anything wrong in our country."

Rosa paused. That was true, but he wasn't willing to let the crook go. "I bet that passport he used is phony," he mused.

"Good idea, we'll deport his ass," Koshiro concluded. "But whatever happens, he is not staying in Tokyo." Koshiro checked his sidearm and got out of the car. Rosa shook his head in disbelief. He removed his own firearm and followed his senior.

"I don't agree with this," he complained.

"Not your call kid," Koshiro said bitterly, affirming an order. "Now look for a way in."

* * *

"Is everyone in place?" Sailor Moon whispered in her communicator. Four hushed confirmations came back at her. "OK, Venus you take it from here."

"Thanks," Sailor Venus muttered and closed her communicator. She remained kneeling down behind the crate she was using to conceal herself. She peered out over the top. There were six men in the middle of a courtyard, waiting. It didn't take much to guess which of them was JC. He had his hands tied behind his back and shifted nervously the whole time.

She activated her communicator again. "OK guys, lets try and do this without hurting anyone. Its not our style, after all. Mercury, can you give us some cover? Everyone else try and take care of the rest without using powers."

She was about to give the order to go when the security gate behind her started to retract. A quick glance over her shoulder announced the arrival of another car. She jumped backwards between two cargo containers to avoid being spotted. "Hold it!" She ordered in the communicator.

Just what they needed, another entourage of fully armed thugs.

* * *

The black SUV with tinted windows announced his imminent end. His heart almost jumped in his throat. No more options, no way out. He hung his head in defeat. The very most he could hope for was that 13's wrath would not extend beyond JC himself.

* * *

"Looks like the deal is going ahead," Rosa stated the obvious. "We're out of options."

"Not yet," Koshiro ordered. "If we fire first, we'll trigger the very thing we're trying to prevent."

"I'm going to try and get closer," Rosa took off, leaving Koshiro to himself. The older man circled the opposite way to Rosa and looked to get closer himself.

* * *

There was nothing left for it. The increased numbers shouldn't make that much more of a difference, Venus analysed. "OK Mercury, wait until everyone is out of the car and hit them."

"Right," The water based senshi answered.

* * *

The doors to the SUV clicked as they opened. JC's mouth went dry. It hurt when he tried to swallow. His jaw trembled. The doors slammed close. "The money as agreed," a Southern English accent announced.

"Open it," the English-speaking Yakuza ordered.

The first speaker did as commanded. No explosion. No dirty tricks this time. 13 would simply pay for him. JC's last wild card withered in front of him. At the very least, a double cross may have given him an opportunity. He felt his eyes water. He was crying, his vision blurring.

Wait. His eyes weren't misted up because he was crying. He held back his tears as a moment of confusion took him. Fog was setting in? This quickly. He looked up. Nobody else had noticed yet. The mist was crawling in very quickly.

It seemed as though his own awareness of the dramatic weather change alerted everyone else. "What is this?" the Circle thugs demanded and pulled out guns from their suits. The Yakuza drew their weapons in turn. "Make it stop."

"This is nothing to do with us," the Yakuza spat back. "Perhaps you want to double cross us again?"

It was knee high now. JC looked wildly around him. Nothing for it, he could only think about survival. He dropped to his knees and dived into the fog, he a gunshot and the air whip over his shoulder. As soon as he hit the floor, he rolled.

He heard shouts around him. Instructions to find him. JC got to his knees and noticed the mist still increasing. Half crouched, he ran in a random direction for cover. It was a massive turn of luck that he didn't collide with anyone. He found one of the cargo containers not far off and ducked behind it. He couldn't believe he it.

'No time to think about it now,' he reminded himself. 'Need to cut this rope and get out of here.'

* * *

Rosa watched the fog build up in a matter of moments but couldn't see where it was coming from. "What the hell?" He breathed silently. "Was this the senshi's doing?" He had never understood the full extent of their powers anyway.

He stood from an elevated position, still debating whether he should act and charge in under the newly provided cover. Too late. Five shadows had already descended on them.

* * *

Sailor Venus pushed through Mercury's Bubble Blast attack and immediately took down one guy with a swift kick to the head. Satisfied he wouldn't get up, she whirled round and grabbed another guy nearby by the arm. She spun on her heel and placed a hand over his mouth, muffling the surprised gasp. Using her motion to maximum effectiveness, she spun the guy into the SUV he had come from. Let go and delivered a follow up hook to his jaw. He slumped down the side of the car and didn't get back up.

She looked over her shoulder to see a silhouette fly past her. She took it as Jupiter's handiwork and went about looking for JC in the middle of this mess.

* * *

JC wasn't sure what he had just escaped from but was glad of it. He was doubly reassured as he saw a familiar face, or rather body, come flying out of the fog and land several feet away from him. Thankfully, he looked to have been knocked unconscious on impact with the ground. He chanced coming our of his hiding place and began searching his pockets.

He found a knife, a decent amount of cash and luckily, a knife. "Now all I need is some transport," he told himself. As if answering his prayer, a black SUV came speeding out of the fog. The driver seemed to be completely unaware of where he was going as the vehicle veered from left to right and quickly crashed into a metal crate. It stopped. Perhaps the driver was taken out from the impact.

JC couldn't imagine why fortune was smiling so favorably on him but he decided to dwell on it. He ran up to the driver's door and opened it. Pulling the unconscious form from the seat. "Cheers mate," he said as he climbed in.

No sooner had this happened, did he feel cold metal in the familiar form of a gun barrel pressed against his neck. "Is that you, JC?" a familiar voice crowed.

JC sighed in defeat and closed his eyes. Almost.

* * *

Sailor Mercury's bubbles had started to wear off and Venus looked around to see several bodies strewn about but not one of them was JC's. She heard car tires screeching and watched the SUV take off only to crash moments later. And then someone run up to the driver's door.

She started to run, hoping to catch him before he took off. Too late, door was closed. But he didn't drive off. She caught up and through the tinted windows could make out the shadow of someone holding a gun to the back of JC's head. Instinctively, she punched through the glass and took out whoever it was. JC jumped from the noise and looked over his shoulder. He seemed surprised to still be alive.

"I guess that makes us even," he finally said.

"Are you alright?" she asked without thinking.

"You actually care?" He asked cynically. She opened her mouth to respond but someone shouting interrupted.

"That's as far as you go, miss," Detective Rosa said running up to the car, flashing his badge in one hand. His gun firmly gripped in the other. "I'll take it from here."

"What's going on now?" JC demanded.

"Police," Venus replied simply.

"What? What have I done wrong, now?" He demanded. Rosa pulled him from the car and pressed him up against the side. He quickly checked JC for any concealed weapons whilst keeping his gun trained on him. Rosa pocketed the knife as JC instinctively placed his hands on his, fingers interlaced.

"You know, Interpol have a lot of questions they would like to ask you," Rosa said as he padded JC down.

"Since when were Interpol looking for me?" JC asked. "Get down!"

The Londoner dived to the side, twisting so that his elbow knocked Rosa by the side of the head. The detective fell in a heap on the floor and failed to get back up At that moment, gun fire erupted from the car. The occupant in the back seat attempting to take JC out once more. Venus reacted instantly, opening the door and jumping back to get some space to aim.

"Venus LOVE-ME CHAIN!" She shouted. Instantly a gold chain erupted from nowhere and latched onto the arm holding the gun. With a sharp pull, she removed the would be assailant from the car and into the dirt outside. She kicked away the gun and kept him pinned to the floor.

"Nicely done Venus," Sailor Moon said as the rest of the senshi filled ranks around the vehicle. "We managed to stop any killing here."

"Not quite." JC said coldly as he held Rosa's gun, pointing it at Venus.


	8. Chapter Eight

One Way Or Another  
Chapter Eight  
By Ryan Bodle

* * *

"JC?" Venus said. Her voice carried shock and confusion. As much as they disliked each other, JC never sought to kill her. "Why?" 

JC tightened his grip on the gun. "Let him go," he ordered.

The man underneath her started to laugh. "Are you going to kill me JC?" He said menacingly. Then realisation hit the senshi of love. JC wasn't aiming at her.

"Let him go," JC said again plainly.

"Don't do it," she pleaded with him. "You don't have to-"

"Oh yes I do," JC answered quickly. "You don't know it all, V. Just let him go and leave."

"I can't," she said more firmly.

"Yes you can," he said not taking his eyes off the man.

Still laughing, the man taunted JC. "You can't kill me. Don't have it in you do you Da-"

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" JC raged. The man laughed, apparently satisfied.

"Look at you," he carried on. "Don't have it in you. Shaking all over."

JC was trembling. He stood still and silent for a minute, trying to steady his determination. His face was contorted by so many conflicting emotions, it was difficult to tell what was going on inside his head. Venus slowly pulled the mystery man to his feet and pushed him behind her. Jupiter caught the guy and held him firmly. JC's aim followed him. His expression settled on a mix between anguish and confusion.

"JC," Venus said softly. "Give it to me." She held out her hand. "Come on," she said reassuringly.

"You don't understand," JC said. "It'll just keep going on and on if I don't. I'll have to run for the rest of my life."

"Then why don't you just die?" the man laughed. Despite his position he seemed to be quite enjoying himself.

"13! Shut up!" JC shouted.

Venus blinked in shock at what JC had just called the man. She looked round. This was the man hunting JC down. The man who ran a major part of the notorious crime syndicate hailing from England's capital. He looked nothing more than a hood. Small fry. Perhaps it was his appearance that made so difficult to make him out as a crime boss.

"Better kill me now, JC," 13 grinned maliciously. "Because you know what I'm going to do now I know who you really are."

"What are you going to do?" Venus demanded.

"Kill my family," JC answered. "What's left of it, anyway."

Venus was about to ask what he meant by that but a deafening sound interrupted. From nowhere, a massive thunder crack went off. 13's head jerked violently to one side and then back the other way. His left temple erupted, spraying brain matter, blood and bone. Sailor Jupiter fell back in surprise. Venus turned back to JC, he dived at her. She brought up her guard too late. He tackled her to the floor. She brought her elbow down into his back and heard him grunt from the blow.

They landed in a heap behind the SUV. "You didn't have to kill him!" She shouted at him.

"I didn't!" JC shouted back as a second gun shot pierced the side of the SUV. "Sniper!" He added.

"What is going on?" Mars demanded as she took cover herself.

"Sniper," Venus replied and peered through the window of the SUV. Another shot punched out the glass and she ducked for cover again.

"We might as well be sitting behind a paper sheet," Rosa shouted. "Those rounds will make mincemeat of this car."

"Any suggestions?" JC asked.

"We should find better cover," Rosa replied checking his gun and remaining ammo. "By the way, thanks for knocking my ass to the floor earlier."

"You're welcome," JC sniffed back indignantly. "These containers should be enough cover, we just need to get to them."

"Count of three?" Rosa asked.

"Rather you than me, mate," JC replied. "You'll be taken out the second you show an inch of your head!" He turned to Venus. "Why don't you try that mist trick of yours again? I'll sneak round and take the shooter out."

"How about you stay here and let us handle this?" Venus suggested. "We'll take the sniper out, you stay here. In cuffs."

JC held his hands out in defeat to Venus. "Fine," he said.

Sailor Venus turned back to her suited comrades. "We're going to need some cover, we have to split up and find that sniper before they move to spot."

"They could already be on the move," Mars hinted. "Sailor Mercury?"

The senshi of ice was knelt beside Mars. She nodded in response and closed her eyes for a brief second. "Mercury Bubbles Blast!" she shouted and raised her arms above her. A deep, blinding mist began to instantly encompass the immediate area.

"OK, split left and right, keep to high ground until you find out where they're hiding," Sailor Moon ordered. They split up, Sailor Venus and Mars going right and the other three right. JC and Rosa were left alone in the fog.

"Damn, that's cold," JC shivered. "How do they stand the temperature in those costumes?"

"Just one of their many mysteries," Rosa answered. "I'm afraid, for the time being, I'll need to place you under arrest, my friend."

"That means in cuffs, right?"

"Afraid so, would you mind?" Rosa asked retrieved his handcuffs. "You're not going to give me any trouble this time, are you?"

"I'd be caught inside fifty meters anyway," JC conceded. "What do you mean, for the time being?"

"Until, I know what to do with you," the detective said plainly. "You know, you started a lot of fires by turning up here?"

"I was just trying to hide," JC answered as he held his hands out together. Rosa fumbled in the fog and found JC's wrists, securing them.

"I know," Rosa said as he made sure the cuffs were on properly. "You didn't want to be ID'd by us, right? That's why you tried to buy your way out with the guys that held up the bank. But why even take that risk? I mean, we didn't even get an IPB on you until after the robbery. In fact it was the robbery that brought attention to you."

"Fine mess that was," JC said disgruntled. "I had no way of knowing what the local police knew about me or not. I've stayed alive all this time by not taking chances like that. Besides, the people who want me dead have their contacts anywhere and everywhere. I can't risk exposing myself anywhere. Turns out, trying to preserve my identity and whereabouts was the one thing that sent a flare over my head telling everyone where to find me."

"Why Tokyo?"

"This was a stop off," JC explained. "I planned on finding somewhere out in the country to hole up for a while. I recently scraped through a double cross in Europe. After that, I had everyone after me so I decided to run as far away as possible and disappear."

"Interpol were pretty hot on your trail, Scotland Yard would like a talk as well," Rosa commented.

"Interpol?" JC asked. "But why would they be interested in me?"

"Why wouldn't they be?"

"Because until my arrival in Tokyo, any offence I committed was domestic."

"Your passport real?" Rosa chided. Apparently some crimes weren't really crimes to this kid.

"Interpol run around after mickey mouse passports, do they?" JC countered. "Scotland Yard are as sharp as usual, though. Who called?"

"I think he said his name was Jefferson."

"Yeah, he was the guy who found me first. Pretty sharp, good judge of character if you ask me. Asked me to testify."

"Scotland Yard asking you to be a witness. I take it this has something to do with your running from Europe," Rosa concluded.

"Bravo, detective. Yeah, I was hiding out in Marseille for a couple of days when Jefferson caught up with me. Told me his department were investigating The Circle and felt ready to make some arrests. Asked me if I could positively ID their main suspect. I backed out initially, sounded too good to be true, from my standpoint anyway." By now the fog was clearing up and Rosa could see JC's face. The young man was staring straight a the floor between his legs. The detective had a feeling this was the most honest JC had been with anyone for a while. He seemed almost relieved to just let it out.

"Eventually Jefferson convinced me over several meetings. Proved he was trustworthy by keeping my whereabouts unknown," JC went on. "I said if 13 was caught and all his assets were frozen, I'd ID him in a line up. I said I'd also present evidence at court."

"So what happened?"

JC sighed heavily. "Jefferson's unit had been infiltrated somehow. I was supposed to meet one of his contacts on the Eurostar, a transcontinental train than ran from Paris to London. I found the contact on the train, he'd been assassinated. I barely got out. I ran from the train once it had stopped at Victoria, used a safe house I had prepared for something like this. Took money, clothes and a fake passport, got to Heathrow as quickly as I could. Came here."

"Why didn't you contact the police?"

JC looked at Rosa in disbelief. "As if I was going to trust the police again! The only person I'll trust from this point on is myself, and that's it!"

Rosa fell silent and waited for a signal from the recently departed senshi. Or at least to hear from Koshiro. Where had that old man gotten to. JC laughed bitterly.

"I guess it doesn't matter now anyway," he said. Rosa raised an eyebrow. "I mean 13 won't be a problem anymore."

"Why's that?"

"Because he's lying at my feet with half his brains spilled on the floor," JC answered completely unaffected by the seen. Rosa screwed his nose at the corpse. Despite the numerous he had seen since making detective, he doubted he'd ever get used to it. "I actually wonder if that sniper needed to kill me anyway, maybe I was just a bonus."

"You're not making sense," Rosa interrupted.

"If I was the one they wanted to kill, it would be me there, not 13," JC explained. "The Circle wanted 13 dead. I wonder if they even care about me."

"I thought it was them you were running from this whole time, surely they want you dead," Rosa tested.

"Well, it was mainly 13. We had something of a score to settle with each other. I knew who he was, he wanted his money back." He paused and then shook his head before holding it in his hands. "Oh there's too much to explain and still too many questions in the end. Forget I said anything."

"OK, bottom line, what happens if this circle ever find out you're still alive?" Rosa asked concerned.

JC shrugged. "I don't know. They may kill me, but if they do, they'll make an example of me. It'll be most unpleasant, I can assure you."

"And would they happen to mess with the Yakuza in the process?"

"They'll probably step on a few toes, yeah."

"Well, that settles it. When this is over, I'm putting you on a plane out of here and I never want to see your ass again," Rosa concluded. JC leaned forward a bit and looked at the detective confused.

"You're actually going to let me go?"

"What can I do? Charge you for being kidnapped?" Rosa asked. "If you stay here, its going to mean trouble for me and big trouble for Tokyo. I don't want you here so you're not staying."

"You know, you may be the first decent copper I've ever come across," JC replied.

"I guess you should take that as a compliment?" Rosa snorted in reply

"You should," JC answered in a conversational tone. "If I'm honest, you're probably the first guy I've met who sounds more concerned about the city and everyone in it above his own job and its safety."

"Oh, please, not every cop you meet is out get you," Rosa replied exasperated. He'd so many shallow arguments about his job before. He knew all too well someone in his position rarely got a pat on the back for his achievements but was always well aware of the times he screwed up. That was the price he paid for being a civil servant. There was no room for mistakes when the public safety was at hand. But to believe everyone who worked along side him was either apathetic, lethargic or otherwise was a tiring argument. The force was full of good people.

"I don't mean it like that," JC replied with a conversational tone. "I mean, its hard isn't it? Doing whatever it is you do day in, day out."

Rosa frowned. "What do you mean by whatever it is I do?"

"I'm just saying, you're just about the first badge I've ever met who's not above bending the rules for the sake of looking out for his neighbourhood. Were you ever a neighbourhood policeman?"

"Can't say I've ever had the pleasure," Rosa answered.

"You should try it. Nothing more respectable than a man who works for the community, does the local service. It always gets overlooked, don't you agree?" JC continued. Somehow, he had let the entire scene drift away from them. He was talking as if the current situation wasn't bothering him or at least wouldn't affect him. He also looked as though he was reminiscing.

"I guess I hadn't thought about it," Rosa said back. "You're nothing like I expected, JC."

JC grinned slightly. "Figured me for some gun toting maniac firing his way through heaven, hell and everything in between?"

"Not quite," Rosa grinned back. "Something, slightly more." He paused looking for an accurate description. "Calculating. Cold hearted son of a bitch as well."

JC laughed. "Yeah, I guess I don't quite meet up to the reputation that proceeds me. Between you and me detective, I'm not big on thinking things through."

At that point Sailor Venus returned. "We never found them," she said. "We've covered the entire area and nobody's here." She looked at Rosa. "Except your partner, we found him knocked unconscious. He'll be OK, though."

"Doesn't surprise me," JC said after hearing the all clear. "They probably ran when they missed me. I suggest we leave before anyone realises what's gone on here."

"Agreed," Rosa added. "Our car is outside, we'll take JC from here." He told Venus.

"What about the Yakuza?" Venus asked.

"Well, we could bust them for possession of firearms," Rosa mused. "But we can't explain how we found out about the meeting. Our tip off was off the books and not valid for prosecution. Besides, it would complicate matters with JC."

"How come? Aren't you going to arrest him as well?" Venus looked confused.

"I already have," Rosa indicated. JC showed off his hands behind his back. "But the jurisdiction of his offences are the responsibility of international law enforcement as well. If we include him in all this, his trial won't go too well. He may even walk."

JC smirked at Venus, playing the perfect act alongside Rosa's explanation. "Just let me and Koshiro take it from here, we'll make sure he gets what he deserves."

Venus studied the captive. JC looked back at her, his face was a neutral mask.

"Guess this is goodbye," he finally said.

Venus tried to stop her face from looking regretful. "JC, I don't know what went on back in England, but I want you to know-."

"Save it," JC cut her off. "I don't care."

"Fine," Venus snapped back, now showing pure anger in her features. She stormed off.

"Smooth," Rosa commented as he picked JC up by his arms, still cuffed behind his back. "You know, I think she was trying to say she thought you're an OK guy."

"Yeah, well I'm really not," JC replied. "I don't want getting friendly with her. I don't have the luxury of friends."

"If you say so," Rosa said leading JC from the grounds. "If it makes you feel any better, I think you're an asshole."

"You should," JC replied. "Because the first thing I did when I landed was look up your wife."

Rosa laughed. "I'm not married. You could at least try a racial slur."

"That was my backup, so what are you? Hispanic?"

"Lets go JC."

* * *

"We recovered everything you had on you when you arrived in Tokyo," Rosa explained. "Here's your bag." He handed over a large sports bag to the young man. JC took it gratefully. "You live light." the detective added.

"Can't afford to live any other way," JC replied.

"Are you sure? Because I noticed a shit load of cash in there," Rosa said with an eyebrow raised. JC titled his head slightly and looked at him inquisitively.

"Didn't help yourself, per chance, did you?" JC asked teasingly.

"I'm not that kind of guy, JC," Rosa explained.

"Well, at least let me give you something for letting me stay the last couple of days," JC insisted reaching into the bag. Rosa held up a hand.

"JC, I don't want anything on me that ties back to you. Not even your money."

JC shrugged. "Your choice. What about your partner?" He looked over Rosa's shoulder at Koshiro. The older detective spoke virtually no English and let Rosa handle JC's departure. Rosa looked over at the older man. He was clearly in a foul mood for some reason this morning. He leaned against a bar and scuffed his shoes at the ground.

"I'm going to hazard a guess at no," the younger detective grinned. He turned back to JC and looked at him seriously. "I don't want to ever see you back here. We know what you look like and if we detect the slightest trace-"

"I get the idea," JC interrupted. "I'm gone for good."

"Any plans?" Rosa asked. He wasn't entirely confident JC meant it.

"Nothing set in stone," JC answered. "I'll go north and head for the coast, try and buy passage on a transport to the continent. Work my way back to Europe. I have some contacts there, they may be willing to help me now. With 13 dead, the heat on my tail may have gone down a bit. Find some hole to live in and die in it." He added the last bit cynically. "I better go."

JC shook Rosa's hand and turned away. Rosa watched JC board the train. He stood on the platform and watched the train leave. He hung around for a little bit longer and scoped out the station. Satisfied that JC was on the train and he had gone, he left with Koshiro.

"Well, now that that's done with, we have a great deal of paper work to complete," Koshiro summarised.

"My favourite part of the job," Rosa smirked.

"You realise we have to falsify almost everything regarding the JC case?" The older detective asked.

"We do? I thought we were catching the bank robbers? JC was a lead that didn't lead anywhere because we never found him," Rosa answered.

Koshiro grinned as they approached the car. "You catch on quick kid."

Above them, Sailor Venus stood on top of the train station, watching JC's train leave the city. A fierce scowl on her face. JC got away again. She couldn't help but imagine the young man laughing at her. Again he had escaped from her, this time thanks to a corrupt detective. She prepared to chase after him, her communicator bleeped. With a sigh she answered. "Venus here," she said neutrally. "I'll be right over."

'One way or another JC,' she thought to herself. 'I'll find you and bring you down.'

* * *

A/N: Thanks to anyone who read this fic. Even bigger thanks to anyone who reviewed! For those interested, my blog will keep you up to date with my writing from now on. The link is on my profile.

Sailor Moon and friends will return in The Zodiac Wars! JC will return some time soon...


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